Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Series Examines Conditions, Staffing at Local Nursing Homes

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette this week in a four-part series titled "No Place Like Home" examines problems with nursing homes in Pennsylvania and nationwide. Summaries of the articles appear below:

• "Nursing Homes Struggle With Too Few Nurses, Aides for Growing Elderly Population": The article examines the lack of qualified caregivers available in nursing homes in Pennsylvania and nationwide. Although experts predict that the number of individuals ages 85 and older will double by 2030, the "pool of younger females who traditionally have served that group of elderly ... is stagnant," the Gazette reports. A recent survey by the federal government found that less than one in 10 nursing homes employ the "optimum number" of nurses and aides (Rotstein, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 9/22).
  
• "Nursing Home's Fight for Solvency, Respect Mirrors Industry-Wide Woes": The article reports on efforts to stay financially solvent at Collins Health Center in Friendship, Pa., which faces problems similar to many nursing homes nationwide. According to Thomas Kalkhof, owner of Collins, the nursing home has operated in bankruptcy since March and faces "inadequate" government reimbursements and "difficulties in recruiting dependable staff members" (Rotstein, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 9/23).
  
• "Nursing Homes Find 'Culture Change' Necessary to Make Patients Happier, Healthier": The article examines a movement in the nursing home industry called "culture change" -- which "embraces various facets" to improve the quality of life for residents -- to "nurture healthier, happier patients." According to supporters, "short-staffing and mediocrity create a rigid, lifeless environment" in nursing homes, the Gazette reports. Although culture change has reached "relatively few homes" nationwide and "can't always be proven" to improve the health of residents, supporters point to the "depressing atmosphere and high staff turnover in most of today's nursing homes as evidence of need for change" (Rotstein, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 9/24).
  
• "Avoiding Nursing Home Horrors": The article reports on the role of family members in the protection of nursing home residents. Although a number of federal and state agencies monitor nursing homes, "vigilant, assertive family members could be more important than any of those in assuring quality care." Families often place individuals in nursing homes that they have not evaluated and often do not visit residents of the facilities, which increases the "chance that problems will go undetected," the Gazette reports (Rotstein, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 9/25).