Lauren welcomes Gulrukh Mehboob for a discussion about the impacts of relaxed staff training and licensing requirements on nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Gul is a Fulbright PhD scholar at the University of Iowa College of Public Health, studying health workforce policy, particularly in long-term care settings.

• Between March 2020 and September 2021, 19 states reduced CNA training and licensing requirements in an effort to address staffing shortages in nursing homes.

• Gulrukh's study found that these policy changes did not improve CNA staffing levels in nursing homes, even though some scholars had argued that strict training and licensing requirements were a barrier to entering the field.

• Gulrukh suggests that improving wages, benefits, and working conditions for CNAs may be more effective than reducing training and licensing requirements for addressing staffing shortages in nursing homes.

• Her future research will explore the impact of other workforce policies, such as incentive-based programs and wage increases, on staffing and quality of care in nursing homes.

A transcript of this episode is available at https://www.public-health.uiowa.edu/news-items/plugged-in-to-public-health-the-impacts-of-relaxed-staff-training-and-licensing-requirements-on-nursing-homes/

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