Oklahoma Nursing Home Staffing Levels Fall Below ‘Preferred’ HHS Level, Lead to Violations, Congressional Report Says

The "vast majority" of Oklahoma's nursing homes do not have enough staff to provide "adequate care" to residents, a report by the Democratic staff of the House Committee on Government Reform has found, Tulsa World reports. Commissioned by Rep. Brad Carson (D-Okla.), the report found that 90% of the nursing homes in the state "failed to meet" the federal "preferred minimum staffing level" between March 1999 and March 2001. The report says that in accordance with federally preferred levels, each resident should receive "at least" 3.45 hours of "individual care" per day and 1.45 hours of care per day from a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse. Oklahoma law requires 2.14 hours of direct care per day and that requirement will increase to 2.87 hours per day by 2002. But even at this level, Oklahoma's required care hours will be "substantially lower" than HHS' preferred levels, the report says. The report ranks the state near the bottom nationally in terms of the amount and quality of care residents receive. Oklahoma is 45th in median number of hours of care provided to residents and 48th in median number of care hours provided by registered nurses. In addition, the report found the 348 homes that did not meet federally "preferred" staffing levels were cited an average of 48% more times for health and safety violations than were facilities meeting federally recommended staffing levels. The study also found:

• More than one of every six homes had violations that had harmed patients "or placed them at risk of death or serious injury";
• "Only" 49 homes met all federal safety standards;
• Eighty-six percent of the facilities, or 337 homes, had "at least one 'serious' deficiency" that could cause "more than minimal harm" to patients";
• Of the 337 homes with at least one serious deficiency, each had an average of 7.5 violations of federal quality of care.