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Through the generous support of the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing,
Nursing Counts will focus on nursing workforce issues
in particular as they affect the elderly. The goal of Nursing Counts
is to keep you informed and up to date. Workforce issues include the supply, demand, and need for registered
nurses and other nursing staffing levels in health care organizations such as hospitals,
nursing homes, and home health agencies, and how these staffing levels impact the quality of care.
The focus will be national, but we will occasionally provide state and regional information.
In each issue we will print Fast Facts - those numbers that you wish you had when
you wanted to impress someone - a legislator, a professional group, or insurers. We will include Research Briefs -
short summeries of research articles, including their full citations - about the nursing workforce.
Each issue will also include a brief article describing new data or reinterpreting data that has been presented elsewhere. |
Our first issue is devoted to nurse staffing issues in nursing homes. We want to respond to your data needs
and welcome your comments. We also welcome your submission of original material of less than 250 words and suggest you contact one
of us prior to sending the material.
We thank the members of the Editorial Advisory Board whose names are listed on the fourth page of this newsletter. We are grateful for their advice. We are two nurses - teachers and researchers - who care deeply about nurses and the contribution they make to health care. We work a continent apart, but through the electronic marvels of our current world, were able to put this together. Please e-mail us at hartford.ign@nyu.edu
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Nursing Home Characteristics
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Staffing Issues
In this issue of Nursing Counts we use data from federal reports to compare 1985 and 1995 nurse staffing levels
in nursing homes. RN staffing levels increased 56% and staffing levels of all nursing staff increased 30%. Given
these increases, is there still reason for concern about the nursing care being delivered in nursing homes?
In our opinion, ABSOLUTELY.
Three major reasons account for our concern. First, despite gains, RN staffing remains dangerously low. Second, we are concerned that RN staffing is insufficient to care for the large number of patients whose recuperation has shifted from a hospital to a nursing home. We know little about how these unstable patients fair in nursing homes, which have substancially lower RN to patient ratios than do hospitals. Third, we are concerned about what happens when long term nursing home residents manifest unpredictable health care events that can have serious consequences (e.g., not eating resulting in dehydration; asperation leading to pneumonia). These events require professional nursing judgement and experience. Yet, there are long periods where there is no RN, or at best one RN in the home. Our intent here is to raise issues for professional and public debate. Please contact us to "weigh in" on these issues. We will include some of your comments in future issues of Nursing Counts. - Mathy Mezey and Christine Kovner |
Sources: Dey, A.N. (1997). Characteristics of elderly nursing home residents: Data from the 1995 national nursing home society. Hyattsville, MS: U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources (NTIS No. PB97-193064). Strahn, G.W. (1997). An overview of nursing homes and their current residents: Data from the 1995 national nursing home society. Hyattsville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources (NTIS No. PB97-189708). Strahn, G.W. (1988). Characteristics of registered nurses in nursing homes: Preliminary data from the 1985 national nursing home society. Hyattsville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHS Publication No. 88-1250).
Strahn, G.W. (1987). Nursing home characteristics preliminary data from the 1985 national nursing home society. Hyattsville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources (Vital Health Statistics No. 131).
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