The influence of registered nurse staffing on the quality of nursing home care

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which registered nurse (RN) staffing patterns influenced nursing home quality. Based upon extensive literature review, a model for nursing home quality was developed. Using data from reports of 455 Medicare‐certified skilled nursing facilities, structural, process, and outcome factors thought to influence quality were entered into the model and analyzed using ordinary least squares regression. A small, though statistically significant, proportion of the variance in quality nursing home care was explained by the equation. A positive, significant relationship existed between nursing home quality and the ratio of RN hours to licensed vocational nurse (LVN) hours per resident day.