To deal with Minnesota's PCA shortage, some get creative
Jen Onsum dresses as Taylor Swift to help her find a personal care attendant, or PCA, to work for her.
Courtesy of Jen Onsum
You probably don’t associate dressing up as Taylor Swift or Barbie with getting the vital health care treatment you need. But Minneapolis resident Jen Onsum has taken it upon herself to stand out from the crowd with fun clothes and funny posts on social media to attract a personal care attendant, or PCA, to work for her.
She is one of hundreds of Minnesotans with a physical disability affected by a national shortage of home health care workers — the most recent data shows that there are more than 7,000 vacancies in Minnesota’s personal care industry.
Minnesota leaders say the state is in a home health care crisis. State lawmakers passed an increase in money for people with disabilities to use for hiring PCAs. Those wages will jump from $15.25 an hour to $19 an hour starting on Jan. 1.
Onsum is hoping that higher wages in 2024 will help her attract more help. She talked with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
CATHY WURZER: Say, you probably don't associate dressing up as Taylor Swift or Barbie with getting the vital health care treatment that you need, but Minneapolis resident Jen Onsum has taken it upon herself to stand out from the crowd with fun clothes and funny posts on social media to attract a personal care attendant, or PCA, to work with her.
She's one of hundreds of Minnesotans with a physical disability affected by a national shortage of home health care workers. The most recent data shows that there are more than 7,000 vacancies in Minnesota's personal care industry. Minnesota leaders say the state is in a home health care crisis.
State lawmakers passed an increase in money for folks with disabilities to use for hiring PCAs. Those wages will jump from $15.25 an hour to $19 an hour starting January 1. Jen is hoping that the higher wages in 2024 will help her attract more help, and she is on the line. Jen, welcome.
JEN ONSUM: Hi, Cathy. Thanks for having me.
CATHY WURZER: Thanks for being here. Gosh, give us an idea of the scramble you're in to find home care.
JEN ONSUM: You know, it's a neverending scramble. I require 24 hours a day of PC services. And to fully staff that, it takes about six or seven people, but it's been five years since I have had a full staff.
I typically only have two or three PCAs at a time right now. And you're constantly looking for suitable applicants to come work for you who you can trust and count on and trust your life with.
CATHY WURZER: Oh, my goodness. The only-- these few people helping you-- do you have other outside help-- say, family helping you at all?
JEN ONSUM: I'm fortunate that I do have some family that can help me-- primarily, my mom and my dad. But they're both in their 70s and really should not be doing this kind of work. They have bad backs, bad legs, bad necks, and it's really not healthy for them.
But obviously, they're not going to let me go without care. However, there are hundreds of Minnesotans who do not have family or friends that they can rely on. And if they can't meet their care needs in their own home, they have to go into a facility, such as a hospital or a nursing home-- or a group home, if they can find a group home that is willing to take them.
CATHY WURZER: It's really, really hard. Oh, my goodness. Have home health care agencies been any help?
JEN ONSUM: Agencies that do the recruiting for their own staffing struggle just as much as us independent clients. It doesn't matter whether you're with an agency that recruits for you or you do your own recruiting. Every single person and every single situation struggles on a daily basis to find applicants.
CATHY WURZER: So the fact that you've been short-staffed now for a number of years-- what happens when you have no one working for you with you?
JEN ONSUM: When you have no one to care for you, it means you can't get out of the bed. You can't eat meals. You can't take your medication. You can't go to the bathroom.
You can't go to work, if you need to go to your job. I work from home, but I still need to be able to get up and ready for the day and set up with my work equipment to be able to work. Your life really goes on hold until you have a caregiver available to help you.
CATHY WURZER: I do not know if you use a wheelchair to get around, but my friends who do say you can-- if you don't have anyone helping you, you can get pressure sores, and that can be fatal.
JEN ONSUM: Absolutely. I do use a wheelchair. I'm in my wheelchair 18 hours a day. And if you don't have the ability to get out, even for a few minutes, or to reposition frequently, you can develop pressure sores, and they can become very, big very deep and infected, and then you end up on bed rest for weeks until those heal.
CATHY WURZER: So did you ever think you'd have to resort to advertising? I mean, you sound like you've got a really fun personality. But you're advertising to get just the care you need.
JEN ONSUM: You shouldn't have to try so hard. There are so many people looking for PCAs, that you have to make yourself stand out from the crowd. And this summer, I just got really creative and thought of the times that I dressed up as Taylor Swift, and then when the Barbie movie came out, I dressed up as Barbie. And I'm using those pictures to try and capture people's attention and show my personality and my fun side to try to attract caregivers.
CATHY WURZER: Is it working?
JEN ONSUM: I've had a little bit of interest but so far, I have not been able to hire anyone. So I'm still looking, still need a few more people to join my team of caregivers. And I'm just going to keep trying to be creative until I find all the people I need.
CATHY WURZER: Money talks for a number of people, as you know, Jen. Do you think this raise in rates for PCAs will help you get the people you need?
JEN ONSUM: I do think it's going to be at least somewhat of a help. Being a PCA is very similar to being a CNA. You do a lot of the same things, except just with one person, instead of a few people. But PCAs do not get paid as much as CNAs do.
So a lot of people go get their CNA certificate very easily, and they work in facilities rather than in homes. So I think making your pay much more like a CNA is definitely going to help.
But there also needs to be a recognition of the importance of the work that PCAs do, and that it is a serious profession. Some people don't think it's a great job or a professional job or something that you can do with your career, and the pay is definitely a part of that. You can make more money working at Target than you can as a PCA right now.
CATHY WURZER: Oh, my goodness. And I know you worked on this issue. Do you think that there's room to keep going up when it comes to wages on the state level?
JEN ONSUM: I definitely think there is more room for improvement. $20 is a great start, but by the time we achieve $20, all those other fast food jobs and retail jobs are going to be offering even higher wages. We got to stay competitive. And that means we got to pay even more than $20 per hour.
And we've got to be able to offer benefits to PCAs. A lot of people need health care insurance, and they just can't afford it on their own. So we need to be able to give them the benefits that any other job would provide.
CATHY WURZER: Well, Jen, I appreciate you telling us about your situation, and thanks for the work you've done on this.
JEN ONSUM: Thank you so much for your interest and helping me spread the word about this really great job opportunity.
CATHY WURZER: Jen Onsum's been with us. She has a lifelong physical disability that requires full-time home health care support. And we've been talking about the shortage of home health care workers in Minnesota.
She's one of hundreds of Minnesotans with a physical disability affected by a national shortage of home health care workers. The most recent data shows that there are more than 7,000 vacancies in Minnesota's personal care industry. Minnesota leaders say the state is in a home health care crisis.
State lawmakers passed an increase in money for folks with disabilities to use for hiring PCAs. Those wages will jump from $15.25 an hour to $19 an hour starting January 1. Jen is hoping that the higher wages in 2024 will help her attract more help, and she is on the line. Jen, welcome.
JEN ONSUM: Hi, Cathy. Thanks for having me.
CATHY WURZER: Thanks for being here. Gosh, give us an idea of the scramble you're in to find home care.
JEN ONSUM: You know, it's a neverending scramble. I require 24 hours a day of PC services. And to fully staff that, it takes about six or seven people, but it's been five years since I have had a full staff.
I typically only have two or three PCAs at a time right now. And you're constantly looking for suitable applicants to come work for you who you can trust and count on and trust your life with.
CATHY WURZER: Oh, my goodness. The only-- these few people helping you-- do you have other outside help-- say, family helping you at all?
JEN ONSUM: I'm fortunate that I do have some family that can help me-- primarily, my mom and my dad. But they're both in their 70s and really should not be doing this kind of work. They have bad backs, bad legs, bad necks, and it's really not healthy for them.
But obviously, they're not going to let me go without care. However, there are hundreds of Minnesotans who do not have family or friends that they can rely on. And if they can't meet their care needs in their own home, they have to go into a facility, such as a hospital or a nursing home-- or a group home, if they can find a group home that is willing to take them.
CATHY WURZER: It's really, really hard. Oh, my goodness. Have home health care agencies been any help?
JEN ONSUM: Agencies that do the recruiting for their own staffing struggle just as much as us independent clients. It doesn't matter whether you're with an agency that recruits for you or you do your own recruiting. Every single person and every single situation struggles on a daily basis to find applicants.
CATHY WURZER: So the fact that you've been short-staffed now for a number of years-- what happens when you have no one working for you with you?
JEN ONSUM: When you have no one to care for you, it means you can't get out of the bed. You can't eat meals. You can't take your medication. You can't go to the bathroom.
You can't go to work, if you need to go to your job. I work from home, but I still need to be able to get up and ready for the day and set up with my work equipment to be able to work. Your life really goes on hold until you have a caregiver available to help you.
CATHY WURZER: I do not know if you use a wheelchair to get around, but my friends who do say you can-- if you don't have anyone helping you, you can get pressure sores, and that can be fatal.
JEN ONSUM: Absolutely. I do use a wheelchair. I'm in my wheelchair 18 hours a day. And if you don't have the ability to get out, even for a few minutes, or to reposition frequently, you can develop pressure sores, and they can become very, big very deep and infected, and then you end up on bed rest for weeks until those heal.
CATHY WURZER: So did you ever think you'd have to resort to advertising? I mean, you sound like you've got a really fun personality. But you're advertising to get just the care you need.
JEN ONSUM: You shouldn't have to try so hard. There are so many people looking for PCAs, that you have to make yourself stand out from the crowd. And this summer, I just got really creative and thought of the times that I dressed up as Taylor Swift, and then when the Barbie movie came out, I dressed up as Barbie. And I'm using those pictures to try and capture people's attention and show my personality and my fun side to try to attract caregivers.
CATHY WURZER: Is it working?
JEN ONSUM: I've had a little bit of interest but so far, I have not been able to hire anyone. So I'm still looking, still need a few more people to join my team of caregivers. And I'm just going to keep trying to be creative until I find all the people I need.
CATHY WURZER: Money talks for a number of people, as you know, Jen. Do you think this raise in rates for PCAs will help you get the people you need?
JEN ONSUM: I do think it's going to be at least somewhat of a help. Being a PCA is very similar to being a CNA. You do a lot of the same things, except just with one person, instead of a few people. But PCAs do not get paid as much as CNAs do.
So a lot of people go get their CNA certificate very easily, and they work in facilities rather than in homes. So I think making your pay much more like a CNA is definitely going to help.
But there also needs to be a recognition of the importance of the work that PCAs do, and that it is a serious profession. Some people don't think it's a great job or a professional job or something that you can do with your career, and the pay is definitely a part of that. You can make more money working at Target than you can as a PCA right now.
CATHY WURZER: Oh, my goodness. And I know you worked on this issue. Do you think that there's room to keep going up when it comes to wages on the state level?
JEN ONSUM: I definitely think there is more room for improvement. $20 is a great start, but by the time we achieve $20, all those other fast food jobs and retail jobs are going to be offering even higher wages. We got to stay competitive. And that means we got to pay even more than $20 per hour.
And we've got to be able to offer benefits to PCAs. A lot of people need health care insurance, and they just can't afford it on their own. So we need to be able to give them the benefits that any other job would provide.
CATHY WURZER: Well, Jen, I appreciate you telling us about your situation, and thanks for the work you've done on this.
JEN ONSUM: Thank you so much for your interest and helping me spread the word about this really great job opportunity.
CATHY WURZER: Jen Onsum's been with us. She has a lifelong physical disability that requires full-time home health care support. And we've been talking about the shortage of home health care workers in Minnesota.
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