Recently, the Canadian Institutes for Health Research funded a systematic review of long-term care (LTC) that concluded “future Canadian research exploring the relationship between nurse staffing and outcomes in LTC settings is an urgent priority”. This poster provides preliminary findings of research being conducted in Ontario that seeks to understand the relationship between quality of care outcomes and nursing and personal care (NPC) staffing characteristics. A rigorous cross-sectional descriptive study of Ontario’s LTC population is being conducted, regressing four resident-level NPC-sensitive quality indicators (prevalence of pain and incidence of falls, incontinence and pressure ulcers) onto four NPC staffing characteristics (staffing level, skill mix, roles and responsibilities as well as skills and competencies). Overall, this study will offer insights to both policy and administrative decision-makers as to how LTCHs have structured NPC staffing to meet the ever-increasing and complex care needs of LTC residents.

Clemens, Sara1; Wodchis, Walter2; McGilton, Kathy3; McGrail, Kim4
1Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario; 2Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario; 3Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario; 4Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia.