N C H S - N N H S - nnas 2004

Up to eight nursing assistants from about half of the facilities participating in the National Nursing Home Survey (NNHS) will be selected to take part in a new national survey of nursing assistants. The National Nursing Assistant Survey (NNAS) will help the nursing home industry develop more effective ways to recruit, train, and retain nursing assistants.

What is the National Nursing Assistant Survey?
The National Nursing Assistant Survey (NNAS) is the first national study of nursing assistants working in nursing facilities in the United States. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is sponsoring the study. About 6,000 nursing assistants will be chosen for the NNAS from about 800 nursing homes across the country. The NNAS will look at the important role of nursing assistants in providing long-term care services for the growing elderly and chronically ill population.

The NNAS, part of the National Nursing Home Survey, will provide new information needed to recruit, retain, and expand paraprofessional long-term care workforce. We will conduct this first national survey of nursing assistants as a telephone interview with a sample of workers who provide nursing home residents with assistance in activities of daily living (ADLs) (eating, transferring, toileting, dressing and bathing). The survey includes collecting information on whether workers plan to continue working in their present positions and what factors affect their decisions, including job satisfaction, nature of the work environment, training, advancement opportunities, benefits, working conditions, and personal or family demands. The survey will help identify nursing assistants priorities, ways to meet those priorities, and how to prevent staffing shortages in the future.

Why should I participate?
Our Nation is facing a major shortage of nursing assistants who provide for the long-term care needs of residents in nursing homes and other places. As “baby boomers” age, the need for long-term care will increase. The need for nursing assistants will also grow. But today, many nursing assistants are leaving and too few are entering the field.

We need to find out from nursing assistants about their work experiences and the challenges they face. This information will guide changes in policy and practice that can help attract new people to become nursing assistants. Without the voice of nursing assistants to help inform public policy and new programs, it is likely the shortage of nursing assistants will increase.

Therefore, your participation in the National Nursing Assistant Survey is important; without your involvement, nursing assistants like you will not be included in the national description of nursing assistants who work in U.S. nursing homes.

Nursing assistants like you provide care to more than 1.6 million elderly and chronically ill people who live in approximately 18,000 nursing facilities across the United States. We need to keep experienced, dedicated nursing assistants in the field and find new ways to attract more nursing assistants for the future.

Some of the important goals of the NNAS are to provide a better understanding of:

How was I selected?
Nursing assistants are selected from about 800 nursing facilities participating in the 2004 National Nursing Home Survey. About 6,000 nursing assistants will be chosen throughout the United States for this survey. Nursing assistants are randomly selected from a list of all nursing assistants employed by the nursing facilities participating in the NNAS. Up to eight nursing assistants are selected from each facility. The nursing assistants selected from your facility represent your facility as well as other facilities of similar size in your geographic region.

Your participation will result in more reliable data collection and will permit researchers, policy makers, and the nursing home industry to understand the current and future job-related concerns of nursing assistants who work in nursing homes. Failure to participate in the survey lessens the accuracy of the information collected.

How do I know that the NNAS is a real survey?
The National Nursing Assistant Survey is part of the National Nursing Home Survey (NNHS), which has a long history. The NNHS was first conducted in the 1970s and has been conducted periodically since that time. The 2004 survey was redesigned and expanded to meet the needs of researchers and health care planners who are working to ensure that quality long-term care will be available for the Nation’s increasing senior population.

You can call our toll-free number, 1-800-937-8281, for more information about the National Nursing Assistant Survey.

Is my information kept confidential?
The identity of all survey participants is kept strictly confidential. All information collected in this survey will be held in strict confidence according to law {section 308 (d) of the Public Service Act (42 United States Code 242m)}. By law, information that would identify you to anyone not connected with the survey cannot be released.

All information collected in this survey will be kept private, including your name and the facility where you work. No information will be given to your supervisor or facility. And your job or certification will not be affected.

We assign code numbers in place of names or other facts that could identify you. None of your answers will be reported in any way that identifies you personally. The survey results will only be released in summary tables and reports. No information collected in this survey may be used for any other purpose than the purpose for which it was collected. If any federal employee or contractor gives out confidential information not authorized by law, he or she can be fired and fined and/or imprisoned.

What is involved in participating?
After you are selected to participate in the survey, you will receive a package of information from the nursing home where you work. The package contains information about the survey and a token of appreciation for taking time to learn about the survey. To participate in the survey, please fill in your name and contact information on the postcard and mail it to us in the postage paid envelope or call the toll free number on the postcard to schedule a convenient time to participate in the survey.

After we hear from you, an interviewer will call you to conduct the telephone interview. The interview can be done either in English or Spanish. Most importantly, the interview will be scheduled during nonworking hours, at a time that is convenient for you.

The interview will take about 30 to 40 minutes and will include questions about your:

Aside from lifts, is there any other equipment or devices that your facility does not have or does not have enough of that would make your job safer?

After completing the interview, you will receive $30 in appreciation for participating in this important survey.

Who can I contact if I have questions?
To discuss any part of the National Nursing Assistant Survey or to learn more about it, you can call our toll-free number, 1-800-937-8281. You can also ask to speak with representatives from the Federal agencies that sponsor this survey.