To improve well-being of nursing home residents and ensure compliance with the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, programs aimed at improving quality of life must strive to satisfy higher level needs of the elderly as identified in Maslow's hierarchy. (SK)

Used linear mixed-effects model to study adaptation in a longitudinal nursing home study with different numbers of repeated measurements for each individual because of discharges, transfers, and mortality. Examined individual patterns of change in adaptation to living in nursing home and identified factors that may affect those patterns of change.…

Describes a group counseling experience using a modified remotivation and structured reminiscence format with 6 elderly female nursing home residents (ages 85-99). Concludes that, because of its interpersonal-interactive nature, group counseling may be most beneficial therapeutic modality for the elderly. (Author/NB)

Examined changes in resident acuity and registered nurse staffing in all nursing homes in Pennsylvania before and after introduction of Medicare Prospective Payment System (PPS) in 1983. Found that acuity of nursing home residents increased significantly since introduction of PPS, full-time registered nurse staffing remained unchanged, and…

Examines how demographic characteristics of the top management team in 236 nursing homes can affect the adoption of innovations. Results indicate that managers of non-chain nursing homes showed a greater association between demographic factors and innovation. Job tenure, educational background, and professional involvement were important…

Interactive experiential learning about nutrition was undertaken by 11 registered nurses and 1 licensed practical nurse. Pretest scores averaged 56%, posttest scores 66%. Less-experienced nurses scored better; more-experienced nurses performed nutrition assessment most often. (SK)

Purpose: Effective pain management remains a serious problem in the nursing home setting. Barriers to achieving optimal pain practices include staff knowledge deficits, biases, and attitudes that influence assessment and management of the residents' pain. Design and Methods: Twelve nursing homes participated in this intervention study: six…

Purpose. The objective of this work was to determine if nursing homes that score differently on prevalence of depression, according to the Minimum Data Set (MDS) quality indicator, also provide different processes of care related to depression. Design and Methods. A cross-sectional study with 396 long-term residents in 14 skilled nursing…

Purpose: Our objective in this analysis was to determine how the duration of caregiving interacts with key care demands (i.e., severity of problem behaviors) to influence the institutionalization of individuals suffering from dementia. Methods: We utilized multiregional data from 4,761 caregivers of individuals with dementia over a 3-year period.…

Purpose: This study examines the moderating effect of staff stability on the relationship between management practices used to empower nurse aides and resident outcomes in a multistate sample of nursing homes. An adaptation of Kanter's theory of structural power in organizations guided the framework for the model used in this study. Design and…

Purpose: This study investigated whether the use of restraining devices and related measures of care quality are different in nursing homes that score in the upper and lower quartiles on the Minimum Data Set (MDS) "prevalence of restraint" quality indicator, which assesses daily use of restraining devices when residents are out of bed. Design and…

Purpose: We explore how nursing home characteristics affect the number of lawsuits filed against the facilities in Florida during the period from 1997 to 2001. Design and Methods: We examined data from 478 nursing homes in 30 Florida counties from 1997 to 2001. We obtained the data from Westlaw's Adverse Filings: Lawsuits database, the Online…

Nursing home programs committed to providing quality care need to investigate innovative ways to meet today's budget challenges. The purpose of this article is to describe a creative collaboration between a nonprofit nursing home facility and a suburban university. Through service-learning, undergraduate students planned and implemented…

Context: Advance directives promote patient autonomy and encourage greater awareness of final care options while reducing physician and family uncertainty regarding patient preferences. Purpose: To investigate differences in decision making authority and the use of advance directives among nursing home residents admitted from urban and rural…

Purpose: Previous research in specific locales indicates that individuals admitted to rural nursing homes have lower care needs than individuals admitted to nursing homes in urban areas, and that rural nursing homes differ in their mix of short-stay and chronic-care residents. This research investigates whether differences in acuity are a function…