scholarly journals Failure to Thrive: Nursing Home Staff Experiences in Caring for Residents during the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 883-883
Author(s):  
Yu-Ping Chang ◽  
Audrieanna Raciti ◽  
Cristina de Rosa ◽  
Margaret Doerzbacher ◽  
Yanjun Zhou ◽  
...  

Abstract Nursing home residents and staff have accounted for roughly 40% of Coronavirus-related deaths in the U.S. The burden of caring for vulnerable residents coupled with isolation policies has taken a significant emotional toll among direct health care staff in long term care facilities. This study explores nursing home staff’s experiences in caring for residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. A qualitative descriptive approach with a semi-structured guide was used to conduct individual interviews. We recruited nursing home staff employed during the COVID-19 pandemic in long term care facilities located in New York State. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and then analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s Reflexive Thematic analysis. Twelve nursing home staff were interviewed. Participants consistently refer to failure-to-thrive as an extremely concerning problem because many residents demonstrate decreased appetite and poor nutrition, inactivity, and depressive symptoms due to social isolation. They also often feel frustrated and overwhelmed due to uncertainty and shortages of staff. Five main themes were identified, including doing their best to manage residents’ failure-to-thrive, working as a team, keeping family members informed and connected, struggling to balance competing personal and professional demands, and needing support to reduce stress and build strength. Our study findings indicate that nursing home staff experienced a high level of stress and identified failure-to-thrive caused by isolation and loneliness as a common phenomenon among nursing home residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Interventions are urgently needed to reduce isolation and loneness in nursing home residents and to provide support for staff.

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 57-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward H Wagner

Residents in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities comprise a large percentage of the deaths from Covid 19. Is this inevitable or are there problems with NHs and their care that increase the susceptibility of their residents. The first U.S. cluster of cases involved the residents, staff, and visitors of a Seattle-area nursing home. Study of this cluster suggested that infected staff members were transmitting the disease to residents. The quality of nursing home care has long been a concern and attributed to chronic underfunding and resulting understaffing. Most NH care is delivered by minimally trained nursing assistants whose low pay and limited benefits compel them to work in multiple long-term care settings, increasing their risk of infection, and work while ill. More comparative studies of highly infected long-term care facilities with those organizations that were able to better protect their residents are urgently needed. Early evidence suggests that understaffing of registered nurses may increase the risk of larger outbreaks.


2008 ◽  
Vol 56 (8) ◽  
pp. 1398-1408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony Rosen ◽  
Mark S. Lachs ◽  
Ashok J. Bharucha ◽  
Scott M. Stevens ◽  
Jeanne A. Teresi ◽  
...  

2006 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 212-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lona Mody ◽  
Erica Flannery ◽  
Andrew Bielaczyc ◽  
Suzanne F. Bradley

Persistent colonization withStaphylococcus aureuswas assessed in 22 nursing home residents. Eighteen residents (82%) remained colonized with the same strain found at baseline; 6 (33%) of 18 residents transiently acquired a new strain. Four residents (18%) acquired a new persistent strain. Residents colonized with methicillin-resistantS. aureuswere more likely to acquire a new strain (67%) than were residents colonized with methicillin-susceptibleS. aureus(20%) (P= .04).


2007 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 229-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna M. Sawka ◽  
Madeline Nixon ◽  
Lora Giangregorio ◽  
Lehana Thabane ◽  
Jonathan D. Adachi ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
R.A. Merchant

Older adults at home, intermediate and long-term care (ILTC) setting including nursing home and hospice care are vulnerable to COVID-19 infection with increased morbidity and mortality. Singapore is one of the fastest aging countries in Asia where 14.4% of population is above 65 years old and this will double by 2030 (1). About 16000 older adults live in long-term care facilities and many more attend different types of day care facilities (2). Many of the residents are frail, with underlying dementia and / or multimorbidity and often present atypically causing a delay in diagnosis. In many countries, COVID-19 has spread amongst nursing home residents with mortality ranging from 24% in Hungary to 82% in Canada (3). It is known that 56% of residents may test positive while in pre-symptomatic stage, and many countries have put in initiatives to decrease the risk of spread in care homes (4). COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of communication and collaboration amongst ILTC providers which in many countries are run by non-governmental organization’s, healthcare providers, regional and national healthcare leaders.


Long-term care for older adults is highly affect by the COVID-19 outbreak. The objective of this rapid review is to understand what we can learn from previous crises or disasters worldwide to optimize the care for older adults in long term care facilities during the outbreak of COVID-19. We searched five electronic databases to identify potentially relevant articles. In total, 23 articles were included in this study. Based on the articles, it appeared that nursing homes benefit from preparing for the situation as best as they can. For instance, by having proper protocols and clear division of tasks and collaboration within the organization. In addition, it is helpful for nursing homes to collaborate closely with other healthcare organizations, general practitioners, informal caregivers and local authorities. It is recommended that nursing homes pay attention to capacity and employability of staff and that they support or relieve staff where possible. With regard to care for the older adults, it is important that staff tries to find a new daily routine in the care for residents as soon as possible. Some practical tips were found on how to communicate with people who have dementia. Furthermore, behavior of people with dementia may change during a crisis. We found tips for staff how to respond and act upon behavior change. After the COVID-19 outbreak, aftercare for staff, residents, and informal caregivers is essential to timely detect psychosocial problems. The consideration between, on the one hand, acute safety and risk reduction (e.g. by closing residential care facilities and isolating residents), and on the other hand, the psychosocial consequences for residents and staff, were discussed in case of other disasters. Furthermore, the search of how to provide good (palliative) care and to maintain quality of life for older adults who suffer from COVID-19 is also of concern to nursing home organizations. In the included articles, the perspective of older adults, informal caregivers and staff is often lacking. Especially the experiences of older adults, informal caregivers, and nursing home staff with the care for older adults in the current situation, are important in formulating lessons about how to act before, during and after the coronacrisis. This may further enhance person-centered care, even in times of crisis. Therefore, we recommend to study these experiences in future research.


1997 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas G. Castle

Long-term care institutions have emerged as dominant sites of death for the elderly. However, studies of this trend have primarily examined nursing homes. The purpose of this research is to determine demographic, functional, disease, and facility predictors and/or correlates of death for the elderly residing in board and care facilities. Twelve factors are found to be significant: proportion of residents older than sixty-five years of age, proportion of residents who are chair- or bed-fast, proportion of residents with HIV, bed size, ownership, chain membership, affiliation with a nursing home, number of health services provided other than by the facility, the number of social services provided other than by the facility, the number of social services provided by the facility, and visits by Ombudsmen. These are discussed and comparisons with similar studies in nursing homes are made.


2021 ◽  
pp. 082585972110393
Author(s):  
Hon Wai Benjamin Cheng

While the whole population is at risk from infection with the coronavirus, older people—often frail and subject to multimorbidity—are at the highest risk for the severe and fatal disease. Despite strict infection control and social distancing measures, frail adults in long-term care facilities may be at particular risk of transmission of respiratory illness. Treatment decisions are often complex attributed to the heterogeneity of this population with regards to different geriatric domains such as functional status, comorbidity, and poly-pharmacy. While measures must be taken to prevent the novel coronavirus from spreading through these facilities, it is also essential that residents with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have access to the symptom management and support they want and deserve. What most nursing home residents want during the course of their illness is to be able to stay in their facilities, to be surrounded by the people they love most, and to feel relief from their physical and emotional pain. By addressing the limited access to hospice and palliative care delivery in nursing homes, we can prevent unnecessary suffering and pain from COVID-19 as well as lay the groundwork for improving care for all residents moving forward.


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