I am writing in response to "Addressing the Dramatic Decline in RN Staffing in Nursing Homes" (Nursing Counts, September). Today a nurse is often responsible for caring for 30 to 40 nursing home residents. Nurses in long-term care are overworked and underpaid, compared with RNs in acute care settings. Administrators struggling to recruit and maintain qualified staff at current staffing levels are forced to recruit nurses from abroad on a contractual basis. This is no easy solution. Our government should fund and implement initiatives that develop a labor supply to meet the growing demand for nursing services in long-term care settings. Long-term care providers also have an important role to play by maintaining a work environment that is professionally satisfying and rewarding to staff who provide the quality of care that the elderly deserve.

Monica Mathew

Jersey City, NJ