As a Certified Nursing Assistant, I have personally experienced the physical and emotional toll of being assigned more than a dozen nursing-home residents during one shift. This is not only exhausting for CNAs—it can make it impossible to give every resident the safe, timely, and compassionate care they deserve.

CNAs are responsible for answering call lights, helping residents use the bathroom, changing incontinent residents, bathing and dressing them, assisting with meals, repositioning residents to help prevent pressure injuries, transferring residents safely, preventing falls, documenting care, and responding to emergencies, and taking and reporting vital signs.

Many residents require two-person assistance, mechanical lifts, extensive care, memory-care supervision, or behavioral support.

When one CNA is responsible for 13, 15, or even 20 residents at one time, something will inevitably have to wait. A resident may wait too long for the bathroom. A call light may not be answered promptly. A resident at risk of falling may try to stand without assistance. CNAs may also injure their backs, knees, and shoulders while rushing to complete an impossible workload.

Many CNAs, including me and coworkers I have known throughout the years, experience ongoing back, knee, shoulder, and overall body pain caused by extremely heavy workloads. CNAs are also frequently underpaid and treated without the respect that such essential caregivers deserve.

This is not because CNAs do not care. We care deeply. The problem is that we are being asked to do more than one human being can safely accomplish during a shift.

Nursing-home residents are among the most vulnerable members of our communities. They are parents, grandparents, veterans, spouses, and loved ones. They deserve dignity, safety, cleanliness, comfort, and human attention—not rushed care caused by chronic understaffing. 

Currently, there is no nationwide enforceable numerical limit establishing the maximum number of nursing-home residents who may be assigned to one CNA at one time. Requirements vary among states, leaving many CNAs with unsafe workloads and residents without the individual attention they need.

We call upon the United States Congress to pass a federal safe-staffing law that:

Limits each CNA to a maximum of eight nursing-home residents at one time.
Requires additional staff when residents need extensive care, memory-care supervision, behavioral support, mechanical lifts, bariatric care, or two-person assistance.
Prohibits employers from retaliating against CNAs who truthfully report dangerous staffing conditions.
Requires nursing homes to disclose their actual daily staffing levels and CNA assignments.
Establishes meaningful inspections, enforcement, and penalties for facilities that violate the law.
Eight residents are already a major responsibility. Assigning 13 or more residents to one CNA is unsafe for residents and destructive to the caregivers trying to protect them.

This is not merely an employment issue—it is a matter of resident safety, human dignity, and public health. Please sign this petition and ask Congress to pass a federal safe CNA staffing law.

Residents deserve better. Families deserve confidence. CNAs deserve protection. Congress must act.