title: Providers issue brief: nursing home staffing standards: year end report-2002.
abstract: For more than a decade, lawmakers have focused on improving care in the nation's nursing homes by mandating tighter regulations for the industry. With a growing population of elderly and recent findings that suggest a majority of nursing facilities are understaffed to the point of endangering the health of patients, states and the federal government are strengthening their resolve to crack down on delinquent facilities and introduce minimum requirements for staffing levels to improve quality of care. A common way states have chosen to impose these requirements is through minimum staff-to-patient ratios, but states also must reckon with how to fund mandated staff increases.
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tanner
mesh_terms: D005544:Forecasting; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006291:Health Policy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000639:trends; D006280:Health Workforce / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D008134:Long-Term Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D008484:Medicaid; D006278:Medicare; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D013219:State Government; D014481:United States; D016526:Workload / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards