Abstract
Background:
There is a focus on the provision of safe-staffing levels across care homes due to sub-optimal outcomes that have been reported as a result of inadequate staffing.
Aim:
The aim was to design a tool to guide the safe-staffing of nursing and care-assistant staff within the care home sector and pilot it in a number of care homes.
Literature Review:
A number of safe-staffing tools have been designed for use in older people’s nursing including a variety of RCN Tool Kits including the Older People in Hospital’s tool (2013) and Shelford’s Safer Nursing Tool (2013). In a recent review of the literature it was found that there are no validated safe-staffing tools for care homes (Mitchell et al. 2017)
Methods:
The study took place between January 2016 and July 2017; methods employed include over 200 hours of observational data collection and 79 case-study questionnaires across eleven care homes in Northern Ireland and England. These findings would inform the development of a safe-staffing model for care homes which was later field-tested in 60 care homes, providing care to 3200 residents, in Northern Ireland over a period of 6 months. All steps of the process were guided with an expert steering group.
Results:
The care home equation for safe staffing was made up of sixteen separate domains such as elimination, hygiene, end-of-life care, communication, infection control and psychological needs. 9 key performance indicators were measured throughout the implementation of the model, the most notable include: 6.53% fall reduction, 12.5% pressure ulcer reduction and 12.47% weight-loss reduction.
Conclusion:
The Care Home Equation for Safe Staffing is the first safe staffing model of its kind for care homes. Its implementation across sixty separate sites, over a six month period, has demonstrated significant quality of life improvement for people living in care homes.
There is a focus on the provision of safe-staffing levels across care homes due to sub-optimal outcomes that have been reported as a result of inadequate staffing.
Aim:
The aim was to design a tool to guide the safe-staffing of nursing and care-assistant staff within the care home sector and pilot it in a number of care homes.
Literature Review:
A number of safe-staffing tools have been designed for use in older people’s nursing including a variety of RCN Tool Kits including the Older People in Hospital’s tool (2013) and Shelford’s Safer Nursing Tool (2013). In a recent review of the literature it was found that there are no validated safe-staffing tools for care homes (Mitchell et al. 2017)
Methods:
The study took place between January 2016 and July 2017; methods employed include over 200 hours of observational data collection and 79 case-study questionnaires across eleven care homes in Northern Ireland and England. These findings would inform the development of a safe-staffing model for care homes which was later field-tested in 60 care homes, providing care to 3200 residents, in Northern Ireland over a period of 6 months. All steps of the process were guided with an expert steering group.
Results:
The care home equation for safe staffing was made up of sixteen separate domains such as elimination, hygiene, end-of-life care, communication, infection control and psychological needs. 9 key performance indicators were measured throughout the implementation of the model, the most notable include: 6.53% fall reduction, 12.5% pressure ulcer reduction and 12.47% weight-loss reduction.
Conclusion:
The Care Home Equation for Safe Staffing is the first safe staffing model of its kind for care homes. Its implementation across sixty separate sites, over a six month period, has demonstrated significant quality of life improvement for people living in care homes.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication status | Accepted - 14 Jan 2018 |
| Event | Royal College of Nursing 2018 International Research Conference - Duration: 16 Apr 2018 → 18 Apr 2018 |
Conference
| Conference | Royal College of Nursing 2018 International Research Conference |
|---|---|
| Period | 16/04/2018 → 18/04/2018 |
Keywords
- Care Homes
- Safe-Staffing
- Older People
- Patient Safety
- Health Systems