Nursing assistants and quality nursing home care

摘要

The view of nursing homes in the public press all too often highlights the quality of services that are poor. The latest in a series of government reports, this one by the Office of the Inspector General (February 2014),1 details serious care violations, harm, and even death, A New York Times Opinion piece (March 2014)2 written by a family member describes a facility as, a place of decay, neglect, and startling screams, moans, and cries where staff are indifferent to suffering. Other recent news articles educate us about the harm of unnecessary drugging with antipsychotics, resident-on-resident aggression, and facilities where an overall decline in services jeopardizes residents. Although many nursing homes provide good care, these perspectives present the grim picture of how far we have to go.