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The NHLP Resource Center in collaboration with Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence (HCGNE) at the University of Iowa College of Nursing has conducted a project on nursing home staffing and training. This project was supported with a grant from the Nellie Ball Trust Research Fund, Iowa State Bank and Trust Company, Trustee.
Deficiencies in the quality of care and the quality of life of nursing home residents are a long standing problem, and there is widespread recognition that these deficiencies are due, at least in part, to a lack of appropriate nursing-staff-to-resident ratios and the inadequate training of nursing staff in many nursing homes.
The nursing home staffing and training staff project conducted an extensive literature review regarding the relationship between nursing home staffing and nursing home quality of care and quality of life. The project then developed specific recommendations for increasing the staff-to-patient ratios and for increasing the geriatric training of staff. These recommendations have implications for nursing home staffing requirements under state licensing laws, and they have been disseminated to advocates for nursing home reform and public policy makers.
Project Publication
Maas M. L., Specht J. P., Buckwalter K.C., Gittler, J., and Bechen K. (2008). “Nursing Staffing and Training Recommendations for the Quality of Care and Life that Older Persons in Nursing Homes Deserve: Part 1 — Deficits in Quality of Care Due to Under-Staffing and Training,” Research in Gerontological Nursing 1(2): 123.
Maas M. L., Specht J. P., Buckwalter K.C., Gittler, J., and Bechen K. (2008). “Nursing Staffing and Training Recommendations for the Quality of Care and Life that Older Persons in Nursing Homes Deserve: Part 2 — Increasing Nursing Staffing and Training in Nursing Homes.” Research in Gerontological Nursing 1(2):134.