Nursing home residents over the age of 65 years are at high risk for poor oral health and related complications such as pneumonia and adverse diabetes outcomes. A preliminary study found that Massachusetts' nursing homes generally lack the training and resources needed to provide adequate oral health care to residents. In this study, an…

A survey was sent to every skilled nursing home (N = 495) in Indiana regarding the demographics, education, and whether the severity of dementia impacts the attitudes of people in physical therapy practice. Physical therapists (PTs) and physical therapist assistants (PTAs) practicing in nursing homes spend considerable time (44.0%) working with…

Context: Most nursing home care is provided by certified nursing assistants (CNAs), but little is known about rural CNAs. Purpose: To develop a representative geographic profile of the CNA workforce, focusing on paths leading to present job. Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of data from the 2004 National Nursing Assistant Survey (NNAS), a…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe how the prevalence of nurse aide training and competency evaluation programs (NATCEPs) provided in the nursing home (NH) setting changed between 1997 and 2007, to explore the environmental factors that may be influencing the prevalence of these programs, and to examine how the changing prevalence…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between nursing home administrator (NHA) leadership style and staff turnover. Design and Methods: We analyzed primary data from a survey of 2,900 NHAs conducted in 2005. The Online Survey Certification and Reporting database and the Area Resource File were utilized to extract…

Purpose: Weak empirical evidence exists showing that nursing home staffing levels influence quality of care. We propose that weak findings have resulted in many prior analyses because research models have underspecified the labor composition needed to influence care processes that, in turn, influence quality of care. In this analysis, we specified…

Purpose: This study introduces the first National Nursing Assistant Survey (NNAS), a major advance in the data available about certified nursing assistants (CNAs) and a rich resource for evidence-based policy, practice, and applied research initiatives. We highlight potential uses of this new survey using select population estimates as examples of…

Purpose: The relationship between job satisfaction of nurse aides and intent to leave and actual turnover after 1 year is examined. Design and Methods: Data came from a random sample of 72 nursing homes from 5 states (Colorado, Florida, Michigan, New York, and Oregon). From these nursing homes, we collected 1,779 surveys from nurse aides (a…

Purpose: Recent studies have concluded that there is a lack of "patient-centered" care in nursing homes and subsequently a need for nursing home culture change. As a result, a variety of new, promising initiatives have been introduced, with most of these incorporating the use of "empowered" employees. The purpose of this study…

Background: Nursing aides' attitudes condoning elder abuse are a possible risk factor for executing abusive behaviors against elder residents of long-term care facilities but have been studied infrequently. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to assess nursing aides' attitudes that condone abusive behaviors toward elderly people, as well as the…

Purpose: We developed and evaluated an explicit procedure for obtaining self-report pain data from nursing home residents across a broad range of cognitive status, and we evaluated the consistency, stability, and concurrent validity of resident responses. Design and Methods: Using a modification of the Geriatric Pain Measure (GPM-M2), we…