What's New | August 19, 2009

Long-Term Care

The U.S. Government Accountability Office has found that one-fourth of the country's 16,000 nursing homes have serious deficiencies that cause actual harm to residents or place their health and safety at risk.

The featured innovations describe quality improvement efforts to reduce high rates of ventilator-associated pneumonia, pressure ulcers, and staff turnover at long-term care facilities.

The featured QualityTools provide practical information and resources to improve long-term care.

Featured Innovations:

• Adaptation and Expansion of Existing Bundle of Inpatient Interventions Reduces Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia at Long-Term Care Facility

• Nursing Home Learning Collaborative Improves Quality of Care, Reduces Staff Turnover

• Staff Training and Support, Incentives, and Feedback Fails to Generate Sustainable Reductions in Pressure Ulcers at Nursing Home

Featured QualityTools:

• AGing Integrated Database (AGID)
Developed by Administration on Aging

• Nursing Home eTool
Developed by Occupational Safety & Health Administration

• Nursing Home Survey on Patient Safety Culture
Developed by Westat

View Other Issues

Also in This Issue:

Innovations >

• Counselor-Led House Calls Reduce Symptoms and Hospitalizations, Improve Quality of Life Among Homebound Elders With Mild Depression

• House Calls to Frail Elders Reduce Costs, Hospital Use, and Nursing Home Placements

• Interdisciplinary Team Identifies and Addresses Risk Factors for Falls Among Nursing Home Residents, Leading to Fewer Falls and Less Use of Restraints

• Multipronged Strategy Reduces Use of Seclusion and Restraints to Manage Aggression at Inpatient Behavioral Health Facility

• Nurse-Led Program Increases Provision of Cessation Counseling to Inpatients Who Smoke

• Real-Time Vital Sign Monitoring Ensures Timely Care for At-Risk Patients, Leading to Fewer Unplanned Intensive Care Unit Admissions and Out-of-Intensive Care Unit Cardiac Arrests

• Revised Processes Related to Daily Opening Reduce Wait Times and Enhance Patient Satisfaction at Two Urban Clinics

QualityTools >

• PEARLS (Program to Encourage Active and Rewarding Lives for Seniors) Toolkit
Developed by Aging and Disability Services and Senior Services of Seattle/King County, WA; Interactive Outcomes; University of Washington, Health Promotion Research Center

• Smoking Cessation Public Service Announcements With National Football League Hall of Famer Darrell Green
Developed by Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; Darrell Green Business Council for Youth; Darrell Green Youth Life Foundation (DGYLF)

• www.trytostop.org
Developed by Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program (MTCP)