Joining 20,000 NAHCA Members with 60,000 Front Line ShiftMed Professionals to Promote COVID-19 Vaccination
McLean, VA – December 15, 2020 – ShiftMed.com, an industry leader in on-demand health care staffing platforms, in partnership with the leading CNA organization, NAHCA, will provide a free one-hour educational webinar on COVID-19 in Long-Term Care and on the COVID-19 vaccine. The educational webinar seeks to dispel much misinformation about the vaccine, such as COVID-19 being in the vaccine. The webinar will provide an opportunity for frontline professionals to have their concerns heard from leading physicians and increase the transparency around the vaccine’s efficacy, the process, and the side effects.
The educational webinar will be geared toward the frontline professionals, CNAs, who are responsible for about 90% of the patient care. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions from an industry-leading panel of physicians from AMDA, the Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine, eight career CNAs, and Lori Porter from NAHCA.
Recent surveys have found that as many as 40% of Americans and frontline professionals would be hesitant to take the COVID-19 vaccine or prefer to wait to receive the vaccine. With the CDC, state and local governments prioritizing vaccination for front line professionals and nursing home residents, many will have the opportunity to be protected. Education is a critical component in keeping health care professionals and the general population informed of their options and risks.
“With the reach of NAHCA, around 90,000 CNA professionals in the US, combined with ShiftMed’s reach and staff of 60,000, we are hopeful to give as many CNAs the chance to have their concerns heard and aid a successful rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine,” says Lori Porter, the CEO, and co-founder of the National Association of Health Care Assistant (NAHCA).
Maintaining ample staffing levels during this rollout with many policies to be created in the coming weeks on whether the vaccine will be mandated or not on a facility-by-facility basis is causing operators much stress. Some employees may need to be out for a couple of days from side effects stemming from the vaccination. Some employees’ concerns or hesitancy to take the vaccine will pose a real challenge in the coming weeks for an already stressed healthcare system.
“We hear both sides of the issue, one from operators who are already trying to get budgeted amounts of HPPD and have more professionals on the floors as well as staff hesitancy to be the first people to get the vaccine,” says Todd Walrath, CEO of ShiftMed. “We hope that this educational material can help to create trust among frontline professionals, and we can follow the lead of the many residents of nursing homes who have led us through all prior vaccinations.”
ShiftMed and NAHCA have formed this new partnership to collaborate on this and other future projects. The companies collectively encourage frontline professionals to educate themselves on the vaccine and help to do their part in the successful administration of the COVID-19 vaccine. They hope that we can all return to a sense of normalcy soon and connect residents with their family members once again.
Webinar link – https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_KdRvzJyxRfub-hFHwMsccw
# # #
About ShiftMed
ShiftMed customers are more than 200 enterprise health care partners across the country. ShiftMed gives them software tools and access to labor to streamline the delivery of care services. The ShiftMed on-demand platform allows health care providers to get compliant, credentialed professionals to meet their unpredictable needs. For more information, visit ShiftMed.com.
About NAHCA
The National Association of Health Care Assistants (NAHCA) is a professional association of and for Certified Nursing Assistants and represents more than 20,000 CNA members across the country. NAHCA elevates the professional standing and performance of caregivers through recognition, advocacy, education, and empowerment to maximize success and quality care. For more information about NAHCA, please visit their website at www.nahcacna.org.
