Many nurses and therapists working in Home and Community care have seen their roles change significantly over the past several years, especially since the buy out of naviHealth within care coordination roles - consisting of OTs/PTs/SLPs/RNs. Productivity goals have increased to a point that is unattainable due to increased demands/goals/administrative tasks within paid working hours.
At the same time, raises have failed to keep pace with inflation, effectively reducing real wages despite growing workloads and responsibilities. Raises have fallen well behind inflation, effectively resulting in pay cuts for experienced clinicians who are carrying heavier caseloads and greater responsibility than ever before. For a workforce that is highly trained, licensed, and essential to patient outcomes, this trend is deeply concerning. These challenges are not isolated—they are systemic. Raises are consistently 1-2%, with 2% being a rarity.
These issues are not isolated to individual teams or regions. When issues are systemic, individual advocacy has limits.
This raises an important question: Is it time for nurses and therapists in the Home and Community line of business to unionize? And if so, has anyone considered leading this effort?