Nursing homes struggling to recruit staff

North Dakota Long Term Care Association leaders say the struggle to hire nurses continues.

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) – North Dakota Long-Term Care Association leaders say the struggle to hire nurses continues.

They say they have had to depend heavily on contracted CNAs.

Since 2011 when they began tracking the stats, nursing homes in North Dakota have gone from spending $4 million annually to $30 million. This is because of a few factors like contract prices going up and the number of employees that need to be brought in at each facility.

“We need staff we can’t shut, you know we’re not a restaurant where you can shut down part of the restaurant or a grocery store we’re going to take out a couple cashiers or it’s all self serve. We need to care for people so we’re seeing you know, continued use of contract staffs, simply because we need residents that need care,” NDLTCA President Shelly Patterson said.

Patterson adds the state is down 1,500 long-term care workers since the beginning of the pandemic.