Nursing Staffing Schedule Template (Page 2 of 2) in pdf

Required Staffing Information

According to F356, nursing homes must post information about the number of staff directly responsible for resident care on each

shift. This information must be posted in a prominent place, readily accessible to residents and visitors at the start of each shift.

Facilities are not required to post staffing information on each floor, unless they choose to do so.

The information that is posted must include the following.

1. The Facility name & current date

2. The total number of staff directly responsible for resident care per shift for each of the following categories: licensed

(RNs, LPNs), and unlicensed (CNAs) (14). (For example, 1 RN, 2 LPNs, 4.5 CNAs.) The number of RNs must be separate

from the number of LPNs. (5)

3. The actual hours worked per shift for each of the following categories: licensed (RNs, LPNs), and unlicensed (CNAs). For

example, if three CNAs on the evening shift work from 2:30 PM to 10:30 PM and 1 CNA works from 5PM to 9 PM, the facility’s

posting should indicate:

Actual hours worked

Staffing total

3 CNA (2:30 PM – 10:30 PM)

3.5 CNAs

1 CNA (6:00 PM – 10:00 PM)

Timing

Information is to be posted daily and must be present at the start of each shift. Nursing homes can choose to post staffing

information for the entire day or for the current shift.

Nursing homes are required to update the posted staffing if any changes arise, for example, if a nursing assistant calls in sick or goes

home sick and is not replaced. Failing to update the posted staffing was identified on 8 citations. Another six citations identified the

fact that the posting was not current for the present day.

Retention

Posted nurse staffing information shall be maintained for 18 months. This was an issue identified on 7 of the citations issued since

11/1/10. Nursing homes must make staffing information available to the public, upon written or oral request, at a cost not to exceed

the community standard for copying.

Format

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) did not require nursing homes to use a specified format to allow facilities

flexibility in how they report varied staffing patterns for employees who work non-standard or overlapping shifts.

The Federal Register for 10/28/2005 gave the following format as an example that nursing homes could use to post its staffing

information. Please note that while this is not a required format, it does contain all the information that is required to be posted.

Note: If an LPN worked a 12-hour shift, the LPN’s time would be reflected as providing 8 hours from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the day shift

and four hours on the evening shift (3 p.m. to 7 p.m.).

Nursing Staffing Schedule Template Page 2