With greater life expectancy, more individuals living with chronic illnesses are requiring nursing homes care to meet their daily needs. Resident and family satisfaction with the nursing home experience is an important outcome of care. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships among resident, family members, and staff satisfaction with care. Subjects included direct care staff (n=408), residents (n=257), and family members (n=316) from 10 facilities in two Midwestern states. Although there was some overlap, residents and family member were not matched within facilities. Most staff and residents were white (73%, 94%) and women (91%, 72%). Most often, family members were a son or daughter (48%) or a spouse (15%). The vast majority of residents (95%) and most family members (63%) were 65 years or older. Satisfaction data were collected from staff via paper questionnaires. Residents (individual interview) and families (mailed survey) completed the R.E.A.L. survey. Each of the tools included multiple subscales. MANOVA and ANOVA procedures were used to analyze the data. Residents, family members, and staff reported moderate to high satisfaction. Between facilities, there were significant differences on staff satisfaction with Quality of Care (QOC) (F(9, 395)=3.8, p < .01), but no differences on Job Enjoyment. Lower staff QOC satisfaction scores were associated with lower resident and family member Overall Satisfaction scores. If residents were less satisfied, family members also were less satisfied. Communication and food/environment were significant satisfaction variables among both residents and families. In addition, autonomy, help/assistance, support/encouragement, and staff competence were significant variables among families. Subject satisfaction scores were not associated with ownership, location, or percent Medicaid days. Consumers’ satisfaction scores generally are high in health care settings. Combining staff satisfaction regarding quality of care with consumer satisfaction data may be useful in identifying potential quality improvement issues in nursing homes.
Session #1196 - Long Term Care
The 29th Annual MNRS Research Conference (April 1-4, 2005)