Long-term care advocates say the pandemic has forced the public to take a closer look at the way nursing homes are run, including the way the industry values certain staff members.  Now, there’s a push to increase pay for certified nursing assistants.

This week, the National Association of Health Care Assistants (NAHCA) held a virtual march on Washington. About 1,200 people participated in the six-hour long event.

Many of the speakers were CNAs, whose profession was thrust into the spotlight this year as COVID-19 ravaged nursing homes and assisted living facilities across the country. NAHCA founder and CEO Lori Porter says now it's time to start paying these staff members what they deserve.

“We factor the national average for CNAs to be $13 an hour,” Porter said. “And we believe that should move to 16 and then a pathway to $22 an hour through additional investment.”

Porter and other advocates say doing so would help with the industry-wide staffing shortage.  Not only would incentives like better pay and benefits help retain staff, but Porter says it would give workers a sense of value.

“CNAs are most often looked at as an entry level position,” Porter said. “But there are hundreds of thousands of career CNAs. This is not entry level to caregivers who get a calling to care.” 

Porter says now is the time for change, pointing out a major part of President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan deals with home health care rather than long-term care settings.  Once a CNA herself, an emotional Porter describes that as a mistake, given the necessary work CNAs do. 

“For 40 years I’ve watched people come and go and die in these places,” said Porter. “Alone with only CNAs holding their hands.”