journal articles
NURSE STAFFING AND QUALITY OF CARE DEFICIENCIES IN NURSING HOMES: A COMPARATIVE STUDY
O.O. Omotowa
Jour Nursing Home Res 2025;11:19-25
BACKGROUND: In the United States, older adults’ population, including those residing in nursing homes, continues to grow, thereby necessitating increase nursing care services by licensed nurses. However, staffing of licensed nurses in nursing homes continues to be inadequate, causing older adult residents to experience staffing related quality of care deficiencies. Researchers have reported that nurse staffing levels are associated with quality of care in for-profit and not-for profit nursing homes, but studies that focused on for-profit and not-profit religious-based nursing homes are rare.
OBJECTIVE: To determine and compare the prevalence of staffing related quality deficiencies and their relationships with nurse staffing levels in for-profit and not-for-profit religious-based nursing homes.
DESIGN/SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: Using cross-sectional design, secondary data were collected from the CMS’ Nursing Home Compare (now Care Compare) on 11,022 nursing homes. Variables of measure included registered and licensed nurses’ hours per resident day and quality of care deficiency F353 and F354 and analyzed using SPSS.
RESULTS: The licensed nurses’ mean hours per resident day were more than double that of the registered nurses in for-profit nursing homes compared to the not-for-profit religious-based nursing homes. Insignificant association between nurse staffing levels and deficiency scores and insignificant scores of F353 severity were observed in the not-for-profit religious-based nursing homes; while occurrences of F353/F354 deficiencies were not as prevalent compared to the for-profit nursing homes.
CONCLUSION/CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Staffing related quality deficiencies adversely affect older adults’ quality of life. The higher prevalence and severity of these deficiencies in the nation’s largest number of nursing homes is detrimental and affects the well-being of a larger number of older adults. Adequate and appropriate registered and licensed nurses’ staffing, and their enforcement, would promote and enhance quality of life among this population.
CITATION:
O.O. Omotowa (2025): Nurse Staffing and Quality of Care Deficiencies in Nursing Homes: A Comparative Study. The Journal of Nursing Home Research Science (JNHRS). http://dx.doi.org/10.14283/jnhrs.2025.4