Declines in nursing assistants across New Hampshire exacerbate nursing home staff shortages

The Concord Monitor reports on new data from the New Hampshire Board of Nursing that shows 2,381 licensed nursing assistants (LNAs) let their licenses lapse in New Hampshire between June 2019 and May 2020. During this same period the state only issued 1,672 new licenses, meaning there was a net loss of 709 LNAs. Staff shortages have been a challenge for nursing homes and other long-term care facilities in New Hampshire historically and this recent loss exacerbates the problem. As LNAs are usually only paid around $15.50 per hour, the New Hampshire Long Term Care Stabilization program that provided weekly stipends to frontline health care workers were important incentives to keep LNAs as COVID-19 hit facilities. The program expired in July, but the governor announced new earmarks in mid-November, available through the end of the year, to incentivize these workers to continue their pandemic-era efforts. #covid-19