On Tuesday, April 6, the Kaiser Family Foundation and The Washington Post released more survey results from conversations with 1,327 frontline health care workers, including more than 290 working in the home.
Participants were surveyed Feb. 11- March 7, 2021. And while most health care workers said their employer was “doing about the right amount” or “going above and beyond” when it comes to providing sick leave to employees who had COVID-19 or ensuring employees have the ability to get vaccinated, more than half of health care workers — including 56% of those working in patient homes — said their employer is “falling short” when it comes to providing additional pay for employees who are working in the most high-risk situations, according to a KFF report on the survey findings.
Meanwhile, the survey also found those health care staff working in the home were more likely to feel hopeful, optimistic and motivated about work than health care workers in other settings. But, when asked if they felt the pandemic was under control, more than 1-in-4 in-home workers said it was “not at all under control,” compared to 1-in-5 workers across all health care settings.
Asked about the hardest part of working during the pandemic, one 33-year-old home health worker in Missouri told the surveyors it was the extra steps she has to take when she gets home. “I have to undress in the garage and straight to the shower,” she said. “Sometimes making my son sleep overnight at his grandmas when I have seen COVID patients that day.”