I was informed the other day that a caregiver who works in my mother's facility gets less than 12 dollars an hour. I was shocked, considering the workload that I witness. Is this usual practice? i would like to know how the financials break down in some of these facilities. I realize they are private businesses, but is there no oversee?
back on subject i think nh workers should be paid a decent liveable wage . it is incredibly hard work that they do . i saw a shift nurse last week come to the front door as an old fellows family members were leaving . she knew he would need to be calmed down and redirected , which she did with incredible compassion and skill . the family had no idea what the old guy did after they were done visiting .
At both the 2 NH mom has been in and her old IL all in TX, most of the work is done by minimum wage workers. A few may be making $ 12 -18 hr. Overwhelmingly Hispanic. Nursing staff other than the DON and her two main RN assistants are mainly either Carribean area immigrants (I imagine they are hospital based RN education rather than BSRN stateside & I bet they make no where near the wage of a hospital RN) or male & were formerly military medics. The RN for mom's hospice is from Barbados. The ones who seem to make a decent wage are the social worker (so they have BSW or MSW); the head of dietary (actually is an RD); the DON & her two assistant DON's; the head of maintenance is an actual licensed electrician so I bet he makes a decent salary. The vast majority probably are not making a true living wage but just getting by. What they do and be so positive is just amazing.
If INS were to do a sweep of NH & hit all in one day to go over the I-9 info in details for every worker, they would all need to shut down that night. Much like the hospitality & restaurant industry. Personally I don't know who would do these jobs if it wasn't for recent immigrant labor.
I am a private caregiver, taking care of one woman (in addition to the care she gets at a facility).
I feel very sorry for these women. (and men), most always have a smile on their face, and they are very nice people, and because of the realities, that in these long term care facilities, they do not staff appropriately, or staff based on guidelines.
1 nurse for 17 - 18 patient's and two aides. Imagine what happens when all need to be wheeled into dinner? After dinner? What about the bathroom? 2 people? Really, and the sad reality, is I see them after they are almost done with there shift, and haven't had a break, and had a 10 minute session to eat food fast. Then this is only their first job for the day. It is hard to see, because they do make a difference, and I will tell you, that management is very hard on them.
They are almost afraid to do anything but smile, and be courteous as they have been drilled "the patient is always right"???? Well, that we all know in the aging, isn't exactly so, there minds are going, etc. etc.
But, I am in private care, because truly, these woman and men make a large difference, and I tried in our state to get the Government, and our Mayor etc. to see, and the Long Term Care Upper Management, but it all comes down to profit, bottom line, and yes, they are a very lean staff, with a larger staff on upper management where they get salaries that are in my opinion way too high. Just an opinion.
The article continues... for an average 80-unit facility pulling in $2.75 million in annual revenues, these expenses chew up 17% and 15% of that income, respectively. (Excessive turnover drives those percentages higher.) Next, allot 9% of sales to liability insurance, property taxes and utility bills. Some 8% of revenues will go to pay top-level administrators, accountants and lawyers. Security and maintenance will gobble another 7%, followed by marketing efforts (5%), housekeeping and laundry service (5%), an activities director to keep your residents busy (2%) and transportation (1%). Operating profit margin (before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization): about 30%.
Of course every place is different - it's a big world as I'm sure you'll agree. The grounds where my mom's at are pretty big as far as mowing, leaf bagging, etc. Can't be cheap. It's certainly no task for a house gardener, whatever that is. I can barely keep up with my own house garden. LOL
The liability insurance in AL's must be through the roof. I can't imagine what they must pay. My homeowner's insurance is incredibly expensive, ludricrous even.
I'm not trying to defend the places, just in my experience, they are not gouging people. It's their cost of doing business. The government and their regs have made stuff really unaffordable.
They do have a sofa and some chairs about. Again that is a one time cost and I am guessing can't be more than 1,000.00 a year for replacements.
I see caregivers doing more than caregiving. They are working in the kitchen, sometimes cleaning, preparing activities, and other duties so their job is much more than companionship and entails many jobs during the day. I would just love to see more transparency.
And the cost of pharmacy medicines and over-the-counter medicines. The cost of furniture, bet it is replaced more often then we think. such as mattresses.
Then the building itself, the monthly mortgage or rent. If the building is own by the facility, the property taxes. The cost of electricity for a building that size, heat, air conditioning, water, telephone, security cameras, and cable TV service.
Let's not forget the insurance on the building itself, mal-practice insurance, hazard insurance, etc. Sub-contracts for snow plowing, grounds maintenance, and repairs that their maintenance man cannot fix.
Every time a patient relocates elsewhere, that room needs to be made ready for the next patient... thus cleaning, painting, flooring cleaned, items fixed.