Objectives: Staffing shortages at nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have impacted care providers' staffing hours and affected residents' care and outcomes. This study examines the association of staffing shortages with staffing hours and resident deaths in nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design: This study measured staffing hours per resident using payroll data and measured weekly resident deaths and staffing shortages using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Healthcare Safety Network data. Multivariate linear regressions with facility and county-week fixed effects were used to investigate the association of staffing shortages with staffing hours and resident deaths.
Setting And Participants: 15,212 nursing homes.
Measures: The primary outcomes included staffing hours per resident of registered nurses (RNs), licensed practical nurses (LPNs), and certified nursing assistants (CNAs) and weekly total deaths per 100 residents.
Results: Between May 31, 2020, and May 15, 2022, 18.4% to 33.3% of nursing homes reported staffing shortages during any week. Staffing shortages were associated with lower staffing hours per resident with a 0.009 decrease in RN hours per resident (95% CI 0.005-0.014), a 0.014 decrease in LPN hours per resident (95% CI 0.010-0.018), and a 0.050 decrease in CNA hours per resident (95% CI 0.043-0.057). These are equivalent to a 1.8%, 1.7%, and 2.4% decline, respectively. There was a positive association between staffing shortages and resident deaths with 0.068 (95% CI 0.048-0.088) total deaths per 100 residents. This was equivalent to an increase of 10.5%.
Conclusion And Implications: Our results showed that self-reported staffing shortages were associated with a statistically significant decrease in staffing hours and with a statistically significant increase in resident deaths. These results suggest that addressing staffing shortages in nursing homes can save lives.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2023.04.020 | DOI Listing |
BMC Med Educ
January 2025
Research Center for Environmental Determinants of Health, Health Institute, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran.
Aims: This study evaluates both financial and non-financial preferences of nursing students to choose a hospital for work in future.
Background: In Iran's healthcare system, the persistent shortage and uneven distribution of nurses have been significant challenges. Addressing such issues requires attention to nurses' preferences, which can be instrumental in designing effective interventions.
J Formos Med Assoc
January 2025
Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, No.7, Chung Shan S. Rd.(Zhongshan S. Rd.), Zhongzheng Dist., Taipei City, 100225, Taiwan, ROC; College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, No.1 Jen Ai road section 1, Taipei 100, Taiwan, ROC. Electronic address:
The coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has disproportionately impacted long-term care facilities (LTCFs), revealing vulnerabilities due to residents' advanced age, comorbidities, and facility infrastructures. In Taiwan, the Central Epidemic Control Center implemented a range of strategies to protect LTCF residents. These included early containment measures to allow time for preparing pharmaceutical intervention, the establishment of infection prevention and control guidelines, the implementation of comprehensive screening and testing protocols, the prioritization of vaccination for both residents and staff, and the expansion of the national stockpile of oral antiviral agents.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWomen Birth
January 2025
Department of Nursing and Midwifery Education and Research, King Edward Memorial Hospital, Subiaco, Australia; School of Nursing, Curtin University, Bentley, Australia.
Problem: It is unknown whether the deployment of registered nurses to assist midwives in the provision of postnatal care eases the burden of workforce shortages.
Background: The largest public maternity health service in Western Australia began employing registered nurses in 2022 to assist midwives with the provision of postnatal care on maternity wards in response to staffing shortages, exacerbated by COVID-19.
Aim: To explore midwives' and registered nurses' experiences of providing postnatal care on maternity wards together.
Policy Polit Nurs Pract
January 2025
Department of Africana Studies, Program on Race, Science and Society, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
The Nurse Training Act (NTA) was passed by the United States Congress in 1964 in response to growing national concerns about a shortage of nurses. The legislation provided substantial funding for nursing education to increase the supply of nurses and improve the quality of nursing services. However, contemporary investigations into the causes of the shortage focused on the professional lives and experiences of white women, who were the main target of nurse recruitment and retention efforts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCancer
January 2025
Department of Urology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
Women now comprise over 50% of medical school graduates and over one-third of practicing physicians in the United States. Despite this progress, significant barriers to career advancement and leadership persist, particularly in male-dominated fields like urology and oncology. Women physicians are linked to improved patient outcomes and are critical to addressing the projected physician shortage, which is expected to be exaggerated in oncology specialties.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!