Nursing Home Social Work During COVID-19: Lessons Learned

Hindsight can be 20-20 and practicing during difficult times can inform professionals about lessons learned during crisis as well as routine efforts in long-term care. Nursing homes in the United States were the highest risk places for death caused by COVID-19 due in part to the physical vulnerability of residents, close quarters, staffing shortages, visiting restrictions, and health risks to workers. Skilled nursing facilities are required to have skilled and trained, licensed social work professionals to meet the psychosocial needs of residents, yet nursing homes are often not the top desired places to work due to a host of realities and now with potential negative images of overwhelm during disaster and pandemics leaving the industry and the long-term health care field challenged (Giri, Chenn, Romero-Rotendo, 2021; Grabowski & Mor, 2020; McGilton et al., 2020).