Staffing Analysis

The Consumer Voice is a well-respected advocacy group for nursing home residents. They published a report on nursing home staffing.  The report analyzes staffing standards in each state. Nursing homes clearly provide unsafe staffing compared to well-established studies on staffing and quality of care. Short and unsafe staffing causes custodial neglect and negative outcomes.

Chronic understaffing has been a serious problem in nursing homes for decades. The Consumer Voice’s analysis the difference between research-based standards recommended by medical and healthcare professionals to ensure quality of care and what is being provided by the nursing home industry.

The research is clear that inadequate staffing contributes to lower quality of care and poor health outcomes for residents. Twenty years after a study by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services found that at least 4.1 hours per resident day of direct care nursing staff time are needed just to prevent poor outcomes, state staffing requirements are nowhere near that recommended level.

See the report summary and full report for detailed findings.