TY - JOUR
T1 - Nursing home social services directors' opinions about the number of residents they can serve
AU - Bern-Klug, Mercedes
AU - Kramer, Katherine W.O.
AU - Sharr, Peggy
AU - Cruz, Inez
N1 - Funding Information:
Received December 4, 2008; revised July 25, 2009; accepted August 5, 2009. This research was supported by a John A. Hartford Geriatric Social Work Faculty Scholars Award. Address correspondence to Mercedes Bern-Klug, PhD, John A. Hartford Geriatric Social Worker Faculty Scholar, School of Social Work, and Director, the Aging Studies Program, Room 308, North Hall, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA. E-mail: [email protected]
PY - 2010/1
Y1 - 2010/1
N2 - An appropriate number of qualified staff is a key factor contributing to quality of care and quality of life for nursing home residents. While much of the literature focuses on the importance of adequate nursing ratios, this descriptive study is the first to focus on the social services staff ratio. Nationally representative survey results from over 1,000 nursing home social services directors reveal that the mean number of residents per full-time equivalent social worker in the United States is 89.3 and the median is 79 residents (note that this figure includes both long-term and subacute residents). Furthermore, although the federal government requires nursing homes with more than 120 beds to employ 1 full-time qualified social worker to meet resident psychosocial needs, when asked their opinion, the majority of respondents indicated that 1 full-time social worker could handle 60 or fewer long-term care residents or 20 or fewer subacute care residents. Nursing home characteristics helped to explain the variation in social services directors' opinions. These findings suggest that the federal policy related to social services staffing should be revisited. Policy makers would benefit from reliable and current data regarding social service staffing. Research is needed to understand the relationship between social services staffing and resident outcomes.
AB - An appropriate number of qualified staff is a key factor contributing to quality of care and quality of life for nursing home residents. While much of the literature focuses on the importance of adequate nursing ratios, this descriptive study is the first to focus on the social services staff ratio. Nationally representative survey results from over 1,000 nursing home social services directors reveal that the mean number of residents per full-time equivalent social worker in the United States is 89.3 and the median is 79 residents (note that this figure includes both long-term and subacute residents). Furthermore, although the federal government requires nursing homes with more than 120 beds to employ 1 full-time qualified social worker to meet resident psychosocial needs, when asked their opinion, the majority of respondents indicated that 1 full-time social worker could handle 60 or fewer long-term care residents or 20 or fewer subacute care residents. Nursing home characteristics helped to explain the variation in social services directors' opinions. These findings suggest that the federal policy related to social services staffing should be revisited. Policy makers would benefit from reliable and current data regarding social service staffing. Research is needed to understand the relationship between social services staffing and resident outcomes.
KW - Long-term care
KW - Psychosocial
KW - Social services
KW - Social work
KW - Staffing ratios
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77950754211&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=77950754211&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/08959420903396426
DO - 10.1080/08959420903396426
M3 - Article
C2 - 20390711
AN - SCOPUS:77950754211
SN - 0895-9420
VL - 22
SP - 33
EP - 52
JO - Journal of Aging and Social Policy
JF - Journal of Aging and Social Policy
IS - 1
ER -