Posted on 04/10/2016 4:04:25 PM PDT by Kaslin
Here’s an unusual story out of Texas which seems to defy all the conventional wisdom about employment trends and wages. The local press has noticed that nursing homes are having trouble filling the health care jobs at their facilities these days. That’s particularly curious when you consider that healthcare has consistently been one of the fastest growing job markets in the country for several years now. So where are all of the trained healthcare workers who would normally fill those jobs? It seems that an increasing number of them have packed it in and left for jobs flipping burgers. (KXAN News)
Some nurses and staff are quitting their jobs at Texas nursing homes for more money working at McDonald’s.
Advocates say it is a trend they are seeing state-wide causing a nursing shortage at long-term facilities. The Housing Appropriations Committee has been listening to advocates about the growing problem.
Texas has one of the lowest Medicaid reimbursement rates, which makes it difficult for nursing homes and service providers to offer competitive wages.
“You know, you can start off at McDonald’s at $13-$14 an hour in some cases, you could certainly find easier jobs for more money and that’s a real problem when you’re trying to keep good people in your facilities,” said Scott Kibbe with the Texas Health Care Association.
Here’s a short video from the local coverage which provides a bit more detail.
one of the fastest growing job markets in the country for several years now. So where are all of the trained healthcare workers who would normally fill those jobs? It seems that an increasing number of them have packed it in and left for jobs flipping burgers. (KXAN News)
Some nurses and staff are quitting their jobs at Texas nursing homes for more money working at McDonald’s.
Advocates say it is a trend they are seeing state-wide causing a nursing shortage at long-term facilities. The Housing Appropriations Committee has been listening to advocates about the growing problem.
Texas has one of the lowest Medicaid reimbursement rates, which makes it difficult for nursing homes and service providers to offer competitive wages.
“You know, you can start off at McDonald’s at $13-$14 an hour in some cases, you could certainly find easier jobs for more money and that’s a real problem when you’re trying to keep good people in your facilities,” said Scott Kibbe with the Texas Health Care Association.
Here’s a short video from the local coverage which provides a bit more detail.
There’s a parallel to the debate over the minimum wage here, though it’s not immediately obvious. First of all, the minimum wage in Texas hasn’t been impacted by the Fight for 15 movement yet, remaining at $7.25 per hour for the moment. But the state economy isn’t immune to the market forces which drive capitalism, and fast food workers in some high employment areas are earning as much as double the minimum just so McDonald’s can keep serving up meals. To be clear, this isn’t a bug in capitalism.. it’s a feature. Supply and demand affect the labor market as much as they do the sales of goods and services. Texas has a thriving economy with plenty of jobs, so everyone has to compete for the best employees. It’s a side effect of economic growth.
But here’s where the Texas situation does tie into the Fight for 15. Rather than focusing on loss of jobs in the lowest skill occupations, what happens when the government raises the bar to the point where jobs which require more work, training and skill no longer provide compensation which makes them attractive in comparison to flipping burgers? We’ve discussed this here before, but the situation in Texas seems to be one of the first signs of the phenomenon playing out in the real world. It’s true that, taking the long view, your top end earnings in the medical profession should far outstrip what you can make in a career in the fast food industry, but not everyone can afford to focus on the long view when they’re trying to put food on the table or get their kids into college.
Rapid, across the board increases in the minimum wage reduce incentive for job seekers to move into more skilled positions early on. Why go through a lengthy and sometimes expensive training or apprenticeship program to learn a growth skill when your neighbor who flunked out of high school is earning as much or more than you handing out shamrock shakes at the drive-through window? Keep an eye on this story in Texas because you’re going to see it start playing out in California and New York before very long.
“Texas has one of the lowest Medicaid reimbursement rates, which makes it difficult for nursing homes and service providers to offer competitive wages.”
Once again we see how government involvement screws things up.
L
Serving crap, or cleaning up crap.
And at McDonalds you can eat for free. Seems like a no brained for me.
Rapid, across the board increases in the minimum wage reduce incentive for job seekers to move into more skilled positions early on
To the commies, that’s not a bug, it’s a feature.
I doubt that RNs are quitting to flip burgers. Orderlies and kitchen staff, however, probably come from the same skill pool as the fast food workers and that kind of mobility makes sense. Probably is easier work for the same money.
Yes, I'm questioning the integrity of the writer.
um...this is going on without the $15.00 minimum in Texas.
If MC-Ds pays more, then they pay more.
Unless I’m missing something, it’s a crap comparison.
If the state takes up a $15.00 minimum wage, wouldn’t those low paying nursing home jobs now be 15 bucks an hour also ?
Pay scales in long-term care are poor across the board, no matter the job, skill, license, or certification. An RN has better options by going to a hospital setting, at least for pay. Long-term care nursing is a special calling for an RN.
There’s maybe one RN on duty at a nursing home (if that), and considering some of the rates advertised, I would not be surprised if an RN decided to work at McDonalds instead for a few dollars less an hour. That’s a lot of work on their shoulders plus a lot of training and testing for not much more in wages.
I’m going to bet that all of the leadership of these nursing homes (as well as HR staff, etc) have wages that are far more comparable to their peers in other industries. Least that’s what job ads have shown me so far.
Tip of the iceberg. Unions also contribute.
Unintended consequences of letting GUMMINT control the marketplace.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulated_market
Last line of the article: “....Keep an eye on this story in Texas because you’re going to see it start playing out in California and New York before very long.”
Seems to me I read in THIS article Texas still had the current minimum wage of $7.25 hr. I re read it, and it did say that. “First of all, the minimum wage in Texas hasn’t been impacted by the Fight for 15 movement yet, remaining at $7.25 per hour for the moment.”
California has already legislated a raise to $15.00 hr. by 2021, or 2022 (I forget which), and New York is considering doing the same, so there’s the difference. Market forces versus legislative forces is totally different thing.
For what it’s worth, I do not believe that a registered nurse makes less money than a MacDonald’s worker ANYWHERE in the US.
I would bet most of these jobs in the nursing homes are not really highly skilled nursing jobs. These are probably the people who have to clean up messes, bathe people, change their diapers etc. If you can make the same wage (or a little more) working for McDonald’s which one would you rather do?
Almost everybody wants to put grandma in a nursing home when she starts becoming incoherent and incontinent.
Almost nobody is ready to pay the bill for private nursing home care.
Government involvement was the result, not the cause.
I remember a few cases from years ago - nursing at a long term care facility had the fringe benefit of access to drugs. Made up for the low pay.
McJobs.
I guess that’s only a term we hear when a Republican is in the White House.
Cart.
Horse.
L
And a whole lot less stress and liability to worry about.
You’re probably right. They are likely talking about nurse’s aides.
My sister’s did this work coming out of high school. It is literally back braking work for little money.
The nursing homes were always under staffed. Regulations had a maximum number of patients that an aide was supposed to have and they almost always had double that number. Regulations required two aides to lift a patient or a hoist. There were never enough hoist available and it was a rare thing for another aide to come and help because of the shortage of aides.
The nursing homes always kept the aides understaffed to boost profits. Why the inspectors didn’t fine the homes or shut them down I don’t know.
When I say that it was literally back braking work I refer to the back strains my sisters got because of lifting patients unaided. I don’t blame anyone do this work for taking another job for slightly less pay.
Another issue is becoming emotionally attached to patients that are ignored by their families and near death’s door. Hard work in a lot of ways. I wouldn’t do it for any amount of money.
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