An 8 page proposal for a quantitative study addressing the effects that a primary nursing structure can have on nursing home costs while also achieving better patient outcome. All health care costs continue to increase despite managed care, regulatory insurer and individual efforts to halt the spiral. These cost increases have not spared the skilled nursing facility (SNF), which in fact has additional issues with which to contend. The ongoing nursing shortage has meant for SNFs that they have fewer RNs available to them and that recruiting and retention has become more costly over the past several years. The situation as it exists is expected to intensify in coming years as the baby boomers now approach retirement age. Primary nursing appears to offer a solution that can lower costs, increase quality of care and increase turnaround time in receiving payment for Medicare patients. Bibliography lists 13 sources.
Name of Research Paper File: CC6_KSnursResCosts.rtf
Buy This Research Paper »
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
All health care costs continue to increase despite managed care, regulatory insurer and individual efforts to halt the spiral. These cost increases have not spared the skilled nursing facility
(SNF), which in fact has additional issues with which to contend. The ongoing nursing shortage has meant for SNFs that they have fewer RNs available to them and that recruiting
and retention has become more costly over the past several years (Laakso & Routasalo, 2001). The situation as it exists is expected to intensify in coming years as the baby
boomers now approach retirement age (Chao, 2002). The purpose here is to investigate how implementation of the primary nursing structure can affect SNF
costs. Though costs are of significant importance to SNFs, quality of care remains of central focus (Ilumin & Ignacio, 1999). The cost of professionally-trained nurses combined with decreased availability
to the SNF has increased the attractiveness of using staff members holding less training (Colling & Doan, 1987). These authors reported that the danger of the trend noted nearly two
decades ago is that lesser-trained care providers are not as likely to notice changes in patients physical conditions, leading to delay of attention to changes which in turn can result
in higher costs and reduced perceived quality of care. Hypotheses The purpose of the proposed study is to determine the effects of primary
nursing on SNF costs. Two hypotheses will be used in the study. Ho: the null hypothesis for this study is that implementing primary
nursing has no effect on total SNF costs. Ha: the alternative hypothesis for the study is that operating under a primary nursing structure
Back to Research Paper Results