National Nursing Assistant Survey (NNAS) Participant 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?
What is the National Nursing Assistant Survey? 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? 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: What it is like to be a nursing assistant Ways to improve the nursing assistant job How to keep experienced people working in this important health care field Ways to encourage others to become nursing assistants Several national organizations support the NNAS -- including the National Association of Geriatric Nursing Assistants, the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute and the National Network of Career Nursing Assistants.
How was I selected? 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? 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? 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 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:
Training Examples of questions: How did you learn about being a nursing assistant as a possible job? If you had to decide whether to become a nursing assistant again, would you? 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? Does your current employer offer you paid sick leave? After completing the interview, you will receive $30 in appreciation for participating in this important survey.
Who can I contact if I have questions?
This page last reviewed
October 15, 2008
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