From Nursing Homes to Home Care: Examining the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Direct Care Worker Transitions

Due to poor working conditions and low wages, workforce turnover in the long-term care industry has been a longstanding issue. Increased risks to workers caused by the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these issues. Thus, many states offered wage supports (eg, hazard pay) to try to stabilize the workforce. Our objective was to examine how exits of direct care workers employed in the long-term care industry changed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and whether hazard pay policies mediated the impact of the pandemic on worker exits.