Nursing Home Analysis Paper

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August 15, 2007 Capstone project An Analysis of Nursing Home Transfers N 599 Capstone project Aspen University August 15, 2007 Name name 1 August 15, 2007 Capstone project name Table of contents Abstract Page 3 Introduction Page 4 Background Page 7 Literature search Page 11 Research question Page 17 Research design and methods Page 18 Results Page 20 Conclusions Page 24 Recommendations Page 27 Summary Page 28 References Page 30 Appendix A - Facility and Student Agreement Page 38 Appendix B - Resident Consent Form Page 39 Appendix C - Data Retrieval Form Page 40 2 August 15, 2007 Capstone project name 3 Abstract…show more content…
Facility administrators need to establish a balance between providing a safe environment, while at the same time providing each resident with opportunities for choice, control, and individuality (Kane & Kane, 2001). The staffing levels of professional nurses in a nursing home are not as high as that of a hospital; however, nursing homes have registered nurses on duty that perform assessments, administer medications, perform treatments, and interact with families and physicians, to name some of their many responsibilities. Nursing home residents often become ill. In 1997, there were 1,465,000 nursing home residents and 2.1 million elderly nursing home discharges due to hospitalization and death in the United States (Gabrel, 2000). When a resident is observed to have a condition change, the nurse performs an assessment and makes a decision whether or not to notify the physician and the resident’s family or guardian. The most common symptoms that resulted in the transport of residents to a hospital emergency room were respiratory distress, altered mental status, gastrointestinal symptoms, and falls (Ackermann, Kemle, Vogel & Griffin, 1998). The changes in mental status could…show more content…
Another recommendation for the host facility would be to alter the method that medical services are provided. Other literature pointed out that the daily presence of a physician or mid-level health care providers decreased the number of hospital transfers of nursing home residents (Ackermann & Kemle, 1998; Joseph & Boult, 1998; Intrator, Zinn, & Mor, 2004). The mid-level provider could be a physician assistant or nurse practitioner. An experiment by Kane, Keckhafer, Flood, Bershadsky & Siadaty (2003) demonstrated that nurse practitioners managing a group of residents “prevented the occurrence of some hospitalizable events, but its major effect was allowing cases to be managed more cost-effectively” (p. 1430). From a cost standpoint to society and the government, the decreasing number of hospital transfers lowers the expense; however, to the facility, fewer Medicare days, lowers their revenues and abilities to improve their facilities, hire staff, and pay other expenses.

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