Poor Outcomes For Nursing Home Residents Underscore Need For Nurse Staffing Ratios And Stronger Enforcement

Last week the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services publicly identified over 4000 nursing homes - more than 25% of facilities nationwide - whose residents are physically restrained, or have pressure sores, or both, in excessive numbers. This should be a call to action to both Congress and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

"What's needed to avoid pressure ulcers and physical restraints is a sufficient number of well-trained certified nurse assistants, accompanied and supervised by a sufficient number of registered nurses," said Senior Policy Attorney Toby S. Edelman with the Center for Medicare Advocacy. "With CMS reporting that more than 90% of nursing homes do not have sufficient staff to meet residents' needs, it is time for Congress to enact legislation mandating comprehensive and meaningful nurse staffing ratios," continued Edelman. "For its part, CMS needs to take stronger enforcement action whenever it finds facilities short-changing their residents and providing them with less care than they need."