1. QUALITY AND STAFFING: IS THERE A RELATIONSHIP IN RESIDENTIAL AGED CARE?
- Author
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Whitehead, Noeline, Parsons, Matthew, Dixon, Robyn, and Robinson, Elizabeth
- Subjects
CHI-squared test ,CLINICAL medicine ,CONCEPTUAL structures ,WORKING hours ,LONG-term health care ,LONGITUDINAL method ,RESEARCH methodology ,MEDICAL quality control ,MEDICAL personnel ,NURSES ,NURSING care facilities ,NURSING home employees ,PERSONNEL management ,POISSON distribution ,PRACTICAL nurses ,QUESTIONNAIRES ,STATISTICAL sampling ,LOGISTIC regression analysis ,PILOT projects ,KEY performance indicators (Management) ,DATA analysis software ,DESCRIPTIVE statistics - Abstract
This paper explored whether there was a relationship between staffing and quality indicators in residential care for older people, in both rest homes and continuing care hospitals. A longitudinal survey of a sample of residential-care rest homes and continuing-care hospitals explored the relationship between direct-care staffing levels, skill mix and quality indicators. The study was conducted in r est homes (n=18) and continuing care hospitals (n=16) providing long-term care for people 65 years of age and over in the greater Auckland region in New Zealand. Participating rest homes and hospitals collected monthly data on direct-care staffing (registered nurses, enrolled nurses and support workers), quality indicators (falls, new fractures, pressure ulcers, weight loss, urinary tract infections, over nine medications a day, presence of indwelling catheters and use of daily restraints), over a six-month period. Logistic analysis revealed that in continuing care hospitals, as registered nurse/enrolled nurse time increased, there was a general trend of reduction in adverse events: falls, pressure ulcers, and daily restraint use. However , there were no significant associations between registered nurse/ enrolled nurse, or support worker staffing hours in rest homes in relation to the incidence of the five quality indicators: falls, weight loss, urinary tract infections, use of over nine medications, and the use of indwelling catheters. The study, utilising facility-level data, demonstrated a trend that increasing the combined time of registered and enrolled nurses to residents resulted in a decrease in adverse events in continuing-care hospitals. No other trends were identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2015