The past few decades have seen increasing concern about the quality of nursing home (NH) care.
As with other health care sectors, NHs have attempted to embrace a culture of safety, but the additional barriers that they face place the NH industry at a distinct disadvantage.
In this review, we provide a summary of current models of NH quality and an overview of two important clinical areas for quality improvement: pressure ulcers and falls.
Despite heavy regulation of the NH industry, hoped-for improvements in quality have been limited.
We argue that systemic barriers, such as staffing shortages, NH organization, and an adversarial regulatory environment, preclude advances in NH quality.
2008-03-19
Eng.
Annual review of public health
Department of Community Health, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA. agruneir [at] klaru-baycrest.on.ca
Annu Rev Public Health. 2008 ;29():369-82
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