Modern Healthcare magazine is reporting that the results of a study published in Health Affairs are indicating that staffing levels are “often lower than reported” and “below what CMS expects.” One area of special concern is staffing of RN’s:
“The numbers were most stark for RNs, where 91% of the organizations met expectations less than 60% of the time.
Almost all facilities are required to have at least one RN on site for at least eight hours every day. But nearly 4% of those analyzed met the federal requirement in less than 80% of the days over the period of a year. While most are satisfying that mandate, three-fourths of nursing homes were almost never in compliance with what the CMS expected their RN staffing levels to be based on residents’ acuity, suggesting that measure should be updated, researchers said.”
