A study conducted by the University of Pittsburgh titled “Improving Nursing Home Care in New York City: The Importance of Workforce Relationships and Staff Stability to Achieving Better Quality” confirms what many in the nursing home industry have long known: a happy and content nursing home staff equals happy and content nursing home residents.
A survey was conducted of certified nurse aides (CNA) in New York City along with New York State. Almost 2000 responses were returned from a wide variety of CNA from an equally wide variety of long term care facilities.
They found that turnover rate of CNA in facilities that offered low or no benefits were roughly four times higher than at facilities that treated their staff to high benefits.
Similarly, 45% of staff at high benefit facilities feature have more than 10 years of employment at the same facility. At low benefit facilities, the number is closer to 20%.
It should come as no surprise that people who have better benefits at work are happier at work than people who don’t. The question is whether that contentedness translates into a better, safer, nursing home.
The study focuses on hospital readmission rate as a way to determine the quality of care in addition to the quality measures compiled by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Both factors indicate that nursing homes that provide greater benefits are providing better quality of care.
Many of my clients are nursing home residents and the families of nursing home residents. Hospital readmission rates are important but complicated. Some of the blame falls on nursing homes for failing to prevent long term hospital readmissions, but at the same time, hospitals are also responsible for reducing short term readmissions.
There are over 3 million seniors in nursing homes in the United States. If you have a loved one in an Illinois nursing home who has been the victim of nursing home abuse or nursing home neglect, contact our Chicago nursing home lawyers for a free and confidential evaluation of your case.