Geriatric nursing assistants are responsible for performing the brunt of the work in elderly care — helping patients eat, bathe, monitor their vitals and other health signals and take their prescribed medications. They also provide much needed companionship, which is crucial given the current loneliness epidemic. Underpaid and underappreciated, these healthcare professionals were already in short supply before the COVID-19 pandemic; when the coronavirus hit the United States, the shortage turned into a full-blown staffing crisis.

Long before COVID-19, the geriatric specialty faced a major challenge. Projections in the United States show a potential national shortage of 26,980 full-time geriatricians, leaving the growing senior population and their complex chronic conditions in limbo. So how did we get here and why? In these Essential Insights, we dive into four areas of concern that will need to be explored to prevent the projected massive shortage of geriatricians in the next five years.