The RIHCA Workforce Committee has been in place for the last five years attempting to educate and inform our members, the general public and decision makers about the crisis in Nursing Homes and the significant future need for health care workers.
Our last polling of members shows at 14% vacancy rate within the CNA job category and 22% vacancy rate in the RN and LPN job category. The association has been successful in obtaining funding through the legislature for increases to our facility labor rates to address wage and in turn to reduce our vacancy rates in the CNA job category by approximately 10% from 24% to its current level of 14%.The association during this same period began educating the Board of Governors for Higher Education and the legislature about the significant problems within the Long Term Care community recruiting nurses and educating nurses in our state colleges and specifically the Community College. The Association leading the collaboration with our associations and partnerships was successful in getting legislation passed to ear mark additional funding to the nursing programs to hire additional instructors and expand admissions within the nursing programs. Our efforts most recently have brought the association to participate in pursuing state and federal workforce grants. The association has partnered with Quality Partners of Rhode Island as our grant manager in obtaining a Rhode Island Department of Education Grant to focus on the front of the Long Term Care career spectrum. The focus of our first successful grant program is to provide basic literacy skills training, ESL training, life skills training and GED training to our current health care workers and to new entries into the health care workforce.
Our goal is to provide opportunities for both new potential health care workers and our current staff to advance on a career ladder that will bring them personal growth and financial rewards. This grant and another grant obtained by Quality Partners of Rhode Island will also address the creation of a career ladder process and curriculum for our CNA’s. This career ladder process will provide selected CNA’s the opportunity to grow in knowledge, grow within their profession and to grow financially as a CNA II.
The Rhode Island Health Care Association is looking to continue working with Quality Partners of RI and to create other collaborative relationships to provide the essential professional staff necessary to care for our LTC citizens at the level of quality they deserve. For further information, please contact RIHCA or Quality Partners of RI directly.
