Nursing Homes In Order Research Articles

Relatives experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study set in Spanish locked-down nursing homes.

AimTo describe the experience of relatives of residents with dementia residing in locked‐down nursing homes during the first outbreak of the COVID‐19 pandemic, concerning their relationships with nurses and the nursing care applied.MethodsA qualitative descriptive study was carried out and purposive sampling was applied. Participants were first‐ and second‐degree relatives of residents with dementia, who lived permanently in a nursing home and who were admitted prior to the COVID‐19 pandemic. Sixteen participants, of which 10 were women (mean age 57.1 years), participated in the study. Data were collected through in‐depth interviews and reflective notes, using a digital platform. An inductive thematic analysis was carried out. This study was approved by the University Research Ethics Committee and followed the COREQ guidelines. The Guba and Lincoln criteria (credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability) were applied for quality control.ResultsFamilies' relationships with nurses before the first wave relied on closeness and involvement in care. Families had difficulty maintaining a close relationship with nurses due to turnover and lack of time. The nursing care applied in the first wave resulted in limited family access to the nursing home, limited contact time with residents, and limited close physical contact.ConclusionsThe first outbreak has affected the relationships among relatives and nurses in nursing homes. Changes should be made in the organization of care within nursing homes in order to adapt to restrictions due to the pandemic.

Influenza prevention in nursing homes: Great significance of seasonal variability and spatio-temporal pattern

This work evaluated seasonal variations and spatio-temporal pattern of respiratory tract infections (RTI) in geriatric nursing homes in order to improve effective surveillance, prevention, control and management of RTI. Prospective surveillance of RTI (Low Respiratory Tract infections and Influenza Like Illnesses) was conducted in 11 sites in Alsace over a 10-year period with clinical case definitions and rapid tests (Immunoassay) to identify influenza virus. Influenza national epidemic was a period at high risk of RTI in nursing homes with variable impacts depending on the seasonal period. 2004-2005, 2008-2009, 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 were the periods with the highest impacts. The higher risk was not well understood during these four influenza epidemics and outbreaks occurred in numerous nursing homes despite the alerts and surveillance. Information about seasonal variability and spatio-temporal patterns of the RTI during the national epidemic periods is essential for the nursing homes in order to help the health care workers and the visitors to understand the risk for the residents and then to improve the implementation of the control and prevention measures.

Exploration of the nursing manpower allocation method of medical institutions and nursing homes: a case study in western areas

Objective To explore the nurses' demand forecasting methods of medical institutions and nursing homes in order to optimize configuration of nursing human resources. Methods Using the methods of average growth rate and medical ratio to predict the registered nurses based on the number of physicians in medical institutions, based on the number of nursing home beds to estimate the nurses of nursing home by bed/nurse ratio method. Results Medical institutions need to allocate 1 526 and 1 937 registered nurses by average growth rate in 2015 and 2020; but it needs 1 461-1 652 and 1 985-2 304 registered nurses by medical ratio in 2015 and 2020; nursing homes need to deploy 464 registered nurses and 928 nursing assistants in 2015, 494 registered nurses and 988 nursing assistants in 2020. Conclusions To estimate the of registered nurses in medical institutions by physician -nurse ratio based on the estimation of number of doctors by health service requirement is more realistic. Allocation of nursing assistants in nursing homes should be increased and nursing human resources should be allocated reasonably. Key words: Medical institution; Nursing homes; Registered nurse; Nursing assistant