NIH Awards $850,725 for Study on Nursing Home Staffing and Quality of Care

By Kathryn Podolsky

The National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Nursing Research has awarded $850,725 to the interdisciplinary team of Thomas Wan, professor of public affairs, Lynn Unruh, assistant professor of health services administration, and Jackie Zhang, research associate of public affairs.

The funded study will focus on nurse staffing and nursing care quality in nursing homes in the United States. In 2000, 21 percent of nursing facilities nationally were cited for general quality of care deficiencies, 13 percent for poor resident assessment and 17 percent for failure to provide a comprehensive care plan.

By using administrative and assessment data from nursing homes, such as the Online Survey, Certification and Reporting (OSCAR) and the Minimum Data Set (MDS), the research team will perform statistical modeling and analyzing the longitudinal data. The team hopes to identify high-quality nursing homes and improve nursing facilities' nurse staffing and quality.

Wan said there are plans to write a book that will be an evidence-based nursing home practice guide for nursing home managers to improve their performance.