title: The influence of registered nurse staffing on the quality of nursing home care.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which registered nurse (RN) staffing patterns influenced nursing home quality. Based upon extensive literature review, a model for nursing home quality was developed. Using data from reports of 455 Medicare-certified skilled nursing facilities, structural, process, and outcome factors thought to influence quality were entered into the model and analyzed using ordinary least squares regression. A small, though statistically significant, proportion of the variance in quality nursing home care was explained by the equation. A positive, significant relationship existed between nursing home quality and the ratio of RN hours to licensed vocational nurse (LVN) hours per resident day.
authors.affiliation: Southeast Florida Center on Aging, Florida International University, North Miami 33181.
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Munroe
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D002140:California; D006801:Humans; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000592:standards; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000592:standards*; D009743:Nursing, Practical / Q000458:organization & administration; D010067:Ownership; D010559:Personnel Management; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling; D010563:Personnel Turnover; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013997:Time Factors; D000078329:Workforce