While COVID has managed to kill over a million U.S citizens since it first popped up, this number is not proportional across the population. It’s not a hidden fact that the most heavily affected groups were those with preexisting conditions and those who are older, although the extent to how this displayed itself is not commonly explored.
COVID killed over 135,000 nursing home residents, and more than 2,000 workers. This means while making up less than 1% of the population, they represented one in five deaths. Already before COVID nursing homes were an overstressed and underfunded industry, and that was only made worse by the pandemic.
During the pandemic more than 300 nursing homes closed, and in 2022 more than 400 are on the brink of the same fate. This isn’t surprising when it’s considered that most of these facilities are losing money annually, any extra stress can be lethal. On top of this, over 89% of healthcare organizations are understaffed, with nurses representing a very overstressed and unhappy group nationally.
This makes change very hard within these industries. The most effective players looking to help are organizations that offer practical training to the overworked nurses of these nursing homes. The victims of COVID are exactly who it was predicted to be, the least that can be done is helping those communities rebound. Learn more about infection control and its importance in the infographic below:
Source: IPCWell.com
