In the US, nursing home residents and staff have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. A study, Nursing Staffing and Coronavirus Infections in California Nursing Homes, by Charlene Harrington, Susan Chapman, and Elizabeth Halifax from the School of Nursing and other colleagues compared nursing homes in California with and without COVID positive residents. They found that nursing homes with less than the recommended RN staffing levels, those with lower Medicare quality ratings, and those with a history of previous health deficiencies had a higher probability of having COVID-19 residents.
Establishing minimum staffing standards at the federal and state levels is critical to address the ongoing crisis in nursing homes and prevent this in the future.
