As CNAs and other care workers in long-term care facilities, we’ve seen what chronic understaffing means for us and our residents.

It means residents feeling forgotten and going without care. It means we go into work every day knowing we’re going to fall behind, and our health suffers as we work long shifts and constant overtime. And it means more and more of us are forced out of an industry that keeps us living on the edge — leading to even further short staffing.

At my facility, we lose workers every month because of the workload created by short-staffing. Fixing this problem will make residents feel more at-home. They shouldn’t feel like they are in a jail. They deserve to feel at home when they are in our care. — Edward Kaddu

Safe staffing is essential. It’s the only way to make sure our residents are getting the care they deserve.

The way that WA’s staffing laws work right now leaves some shifts, especially night shift, very short staffed. I recently was responsible for 34 residents by myself. This is an unsafe level of staffing, and we need to fix WA’s staffing so that caregivers and residents are safe. — Karafa Jammeh

There is no safe replacement for caregivers. Our residents don’t have a “self checkout” option. They rely on care workers like us to get their basic needs met.

Without proper care, residents don’t get toileted, they don’t get the human contact they need, they don’t get showers, they don’t get their medications on time. This is very dehumanizing for them. I don’t just work to work. If you’re a caregiver, you have to care. — Anjelique Sinagel

It’s not enough to just tell care facilities to increase their staffing. We need to make care work a better job, and hold corporations accountable for providing the staffing we need.

Here’s how we can make that happen in WA.

1. Win safe staffing for all nursing homes.

Nursing home residents are going without care because we just don’t have enough caregivers out on the floor. That problem is nothing new — WA currently has a staffing ratio on the books for long-term care facilities, but it simply isn’t working.

That’s why we need caregivers at the table making a plan to fix staffing rules. But that alone won’t be enough — we need to make care jobs better if we really want to #StaffUp the care industry.

2. Set an industry-wide minimum wage that gets us paid what we need.

Pay in the care field has simply fallen behind. This is important work. It’s hard work. And it should be paid enough for us to get by and stay in the field. That’s why we need to set an industry standard — and keep it up to date with cost-of-living increases each year.

An industry-wide minimum wage would mean more of us could stay in the field and develop the long-term skills we need to care for residents. And it would mean while we’re caring for other people, we’re getting paid enough to care for ourselves and our own families.

3. Provide secure scheduling and end forced overtime.

As care workers, we’re used to being called in last-minute or required to work long hours of overtime. Sometimes we work up to 16-hour shifts — and we know that isn’t safe for us or our residents.

That’s why we need a secure scheduling policy. We need two weeks’ notice of our schedules so we can plan our lives outside work. We need extra pay if we’re called in last-minute to cover a shift. We need extra pay for shifts that go over 10 hours. And we need to end the practice of forced overtime, so managers focus on staffing up instead of relying on us to fill in.

4. Close the training gap.

Those of us who are newer to care work have seen what it’s like to be thrown out on the floor with minimal training. And those of us with more experience are used to having to train new staff on top of our regular work, with no extra pay or extra time.

We need a training program shaped by and for CNAs. And we need to be paid extra when we’re asked to provide training for coworkers. Let’s make sure residents get the care they deserve by making sure we get the training we need.

If you're a CNA, other care worker, or just someone who cares about making care better — please sign on. We'll be in touch about how we can fight for change together across WA state!