Nursing Home Safety: Current Issues and Barriers to Improvement

Abstract

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.