A published study in the August 2024 Journal of American Medical Directors Association (JAMDA), led by researchers at UC Irvine, found that care provided by registered nurses (RN), licensed practical nurses (LPN), and certified nursing assistants (CNA) may yield different and opposite impacts on quality measures. For example, a higher number of RNs was linked to fewer hospitalizations, emergency room visits and complications from pressure sores, but it was correlated with increased reliance on antipsychotic drugs whereas the increased presence of CNAs were linked to increased hospitalizations but produced better outcomes when analyzing activities of daily life and use of antipsychotics.
Dana Mukamel, PhD, professor of medicine, public health and nursing at the University of California, Irvine and lead author of the paper said,
“The intricate relationship between nursing disciplines and resident care requires a nuanced approach to policies that go beyond simple headcounts, hiring decisions, including ones about staffing mix, should be tailored to meet the needs of individual residents.”
The study sample comprised over 15,000 nursing homes, utilizing data that was submitted to the Payroll Based Journal between 2017 and 2019, including weekends and holidays, reflecting detailed daily staffing levels, a substantially more reliable measurement of staffing in nursing homes than previously available. Read the study here.
