Nursing home staffing is worse in disadvantaged communities

Nursing homes located in disadvantaged neighborhoods are staffed for fewer hours by clinical workers, such as registered nurses and physical therapists, compared with nursing homes in more well-off areas—a disparity that could compromise the safety of residents, according to new research published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

“Nursing home staffing in the United States is a growing safety concern—one that has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Jasmine Travers, assistant professor at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing and the study’s senior author. “Most skilled nursing facilities are already concerned about low staff-to-resident ratios, but our analysis reveals that this gap is even worse in disadvantaged communities.”

Residents in nursing homes often have complex medical needs, and research shows that nursing homes with higher levels of staffing have better outcomes. Greater staffing by registered nurses (RNs), in particular, is associated with lower rates of infection and mortality.