Relationship of nursing home staffing to quality of care.
OBJECTIVE
To compare nursing homes (NHs) that report different staffing statistics on quality of care.


METHODS
Staffing information generated by California NHs on state cost reports and during onsite interviews. Data independently collected by research staff describing quality of care related to 27 care processes.


METHODS
Two groups of NHs (n=21) that reported significantly different and stable staffing data from all data sources were compared on quality of care measures.


METHODS
Direct observation, resident and staff interview, and chart abstraction methods.


RESULTS
Staff in the highest staffed homes (n=6), according to state cost reports, reported significantly lower resident care loads during onsite interviews across day and evening shifts (7.6 residents per nurse aide [NA]) compared to the remaining homes that reported between 9 to 10 residents per NA (n=15). The highest-staffed homes performed significantly better on 13 of 16 care processes implemented by NAs compared to lower-staffed homes.


CONCLUSIONS
The highest-staffed NHs reported significantly lower resident care loads on all staffing reports and provided better care than all other homes.
Schnelle
John F
JF
UCLA Borun Center, 7150 Tampa Avenue Reseda, CA 91335, USA.
Simmons
Sandra F
SF
Harrington
Charlene
C
Cadogan
Mary
M
Garcia
Emily
E
M  Bates-Jensen
Barbara
B
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002140:California; D005260:Female; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling; D011787:Quality of Health Care