ATHENS, Ga. — A recent study by the University of Georgia reported that there was a near 30% turnover rate for certified nursing assistants in the workforce.
According to the study, the high turnover rate of certified staff due to factors like low wages and high stress levels.
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UGA said the turnover rate, 27.7%, meant that the shortage of health care workers currently impacting the industry was made worse, and could leave the CNAs, nurses and doctors who remain at work in a struggle to meet the needs of their patients.
“CNAs are the people who are going to be spending the day to day with aging adults and the disabled — people who really need long-term care. They really have the heart to do this work,” Anita Reina, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher in UGA’s Cognitive Aging Research and Education Center in the College of Public Health, said.
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The study said the stress level of the work was a factor in causing people to quit. providing CNAs with career advancement options could be the key to stop them from quitting.
“CNAs were happy about their jobs and their chosen career path. What they were not happy about was their progression opportunities,” Reina said. “Few of the places where they worked offered any kind of professional development opportunities.”
The UGA study found that CNAs with access to continuing education programs were happier with work and less likely to fee burned out. Only about a third of CNAs had access to those opportunities.
Most CNAs in the research study were interested in going through additional training programs and improving their well-being through self-care and strategies that prioritize their mental health, the study said.
“Health care programs can offer these kinds of job progression opportunities, whether it’s continuing education training within their own facilities or training people to take on a leadership role,” Reina said. “Those opportunities might help some of the CNAs feel like they have a voice.”
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