title: Evaluation of five years of nursing home inspection forms: structural and hygiene-related violation trends.
abstract: Health inspections are performed at nursing homes to identify and reduce risk and to help maintain a safe environment for nursing home residents. The study described in this article aimed to identify the most frequent violations, types of violations (hygiene or structural), and repeat violations in nursing home facilities during health inspections; and to determine if the age of the facility influenced inspection scores. Nursing home health inspection forms (N = 131) completed between 2005 and 2011 in Pitt County, North Carolina, were analyzed. Results indicated that 60% of all violations were hygiene-related and could possibly be corrected without significant financial investments by management. Significant correlations occurred between the total number of violations and the facility age (p = .003) and between the number of repeat violations and total violations (p < .001). The average inspection score for nursing homes could be increased by more than three points if sanitation practices were improved.
authors.affiliation: East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Avery
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Humphrey
authors.forename: Jo Anne
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Balany
mesh_terms: D003252:Construction Materials / Q000032:analysis* / Q000592:standards; D006920:Hygiene / Q000592:standards*; D009657:North Carolina; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000592:standards*; D012499:Sanitation