Hello John,

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is considering a historic new rule that would establish a minimum staffing standard in nursing homes for the first time. 

Unfortunately, the nursing home industry is spending big to prevent this rule from being finalized. That's why we’re asking you to go above and beyond by asking a friend, family member or colleague to submit a comment, too. 

Ask someone else to submit a comment by email or social media by the deadline—Nov. 6. 

It's easy to understand how understaffed nursing homes put the health and safety of both residents and workers at risk. We need everyone to speak up to make safe staffing a reality. 

Here are just a few of the thousands of comments that have been submitted to HHS so far. 

“I am a firefighter/EMT, and we respond regularly to nursing home calls. The low staffing, specifically on 3rd shift, creates a large number of increased calls. When a resident needs help they may push the call button, but when nobody shows up they may try to do that thing on their own and then they fall or injure themselves—and then we get called and they end up going to the hospital many times when they don’t need to go simply because there is no staff on duty to care for them. This low staff places a burden on every American but an extra high burden on the patient and the emergency healthcare system.”

“As a person who worked for years as a psychiatric social worker, I know that it is vital to the health and wellbeing of residents in these facilities to have adequate staffing. Inadequate staffing leads to increased hospitalizations, decreased quality of life, and staff burnout. The end result is money spent on emergency care rather than less money spent to prevent emergencies in the first place.”

“There are not enough staff in nursing homes to care for the patients’ daily needs. It’s atrocious that in the United States the elderly are being left lying in beds all day due to staffing concerns and unsafe environments. We need federal regulations for safe staffing to ensure proper care of nursing home residents.”

Thank you for standing with us.