Nursing Home Interventions Improve Quality Of Care, Reduce Staff Turnover

From: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/160763.php

A study recently released by the UNC Institute on Aging has identified three workplace interventions that are improving quality of care and reducing staff turnover in North Carolina's
nursing homes.Thomas R. Konrad, PhD, research professor of health policy
and management at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and a senior
scientist at the Institute on Aging, is a co-author of the
study.Previous research has shown that high levels of turnover and
worker shortages may compromise both the availability of frontline workers and
the quality of care, potentially putting nursing home residents at
risk.The study, conducted in North Carolina nursing homes between 2004
and 2007, examined the impact of three programs funded by civil monetary
penalties - funds collected from nursing homes for deficiencies in
care.-- The WIN A STEP UP program, which upgrades nursing assistants'
skills, increases their job commitment, and provides rewards and
recognition;-- Quality Improvement Collaboratives, in which groups of
nursing homes work together with the statewide Quality Improvement Organization
to improve specific quality indicators such as reducing pressure sores or the
use of restraints;-- Culture Change Initiatives, in which nursing homes
change their structures or routines to make their environments more
"homelike."The report was commissioned by the N.C. Department of Health
and Human Services and authored by Konrad, Jennifer Craft Morgan, PhD, and
colleagues at the UNC Institute on Aging.The study found nursing homes
that implemented the interventions saw several improvements:--
Facilities using the WIN A STEP UP program saw a decrease in pressure sores
among their residents and had lower turnover of direct care workers;--
Homes participating in Quality Improvement Collaboratives exhibited a reduction
in incontinence and the use of restraints;
and-- Facilities implementing Culture Change Initiatives experienced a
reduction in the use of restraints."The study shows North Carolina's
unique partnerships between the state, the university and nursing homes are
effectively leveraging federal funds to improve the lives of those who live in
as well as those who work in nursing homes," Konrad said.Source:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill