Daily Variation in Nursing Home Staffing Led to Poorer Clinical Quality

Daily variation in nursing home staffing was associated with poorer clinical quality in Medicare and Medicaid-certified nursing homes, suggesting that reporting staffing variation could help provide new quality improvement information, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.

Typically, nursing home quality regulations include minimum staffing standards to ensure that facilities provide residents with quality care. Meeting the average staffing level has been associated with better performance on process quality measures, on-site survey scores, and resident outcome measures.