Incomplete Health and Care Services and Competency Needs in Nursing Homes

Here, you can read the report on incomplete health and care services.

This report has been commissioned by the Directorate of Health and addresses incomplete health and care services and competency needs in Norwegian nursing homes. The report is based on a research project conducted by the Centre for Care Research (SOF) from September 2021 to December 2022.

Background and Research Questions

Previous research has shown that incomplete health and care services are common in the healthcare and care services in municipalities. Discrepancies between staffing levels and care needs, as well as competence challenges in the services, can contribute to incomplete health and care services. There has been a need for more studies on incomplete health and care services in nursing homes, and the perspective of management has been highlighted as one of the gaps in research in this area. The following four research questions have guided the work on this report:

1. What is the occurrence and types of incomplete health and care services in Norwegian nursing homes?

2.  What correlations can be identified between incomplete health and care services in nursing homes and employee characteristics?

3. What correlations can be identified between incomplete health and care services in nursing homes and personnel resources, characteristics, and organizational factors in municipalities, nursing homes, and their residents?

4. How do nursing home leaders manage the balance between patient needs, competence, and capacity?

Method

To answer these questions, we used both quantitative and qualitative methods. The quantitative part of the project is based on an electronic survey of nursing staff in 46 nursing homes, as well as registry data. In the survey, we used the Norwegian version of the Basel Extent of Rationing of Nursing Care for nursing homes, which consists of 20 individual questions divided into four main areas for incomplete health and care services: routine care, care as needed, psychosocial care, and documentation. To get an overview of nursing home patients, service utilization, employees, and types of positions, we received aggregated registry data from the Municipal Patient and User Register and the KS' PAI Register. In addition, we collected publicly available data and statistics from Statistics Norway on the centrality of municipalities and the nursing home sector in Norway. Selected registry data was compared with data from the survey. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and bivariate analyses. To investigate how nursing home leaders manage the balance between patient needs, competence, and capacity, we conducted a qualitative interview study. The data is based on 13 individual interviews and four focus group interviews with a total of 16 leaders from nursing homes where we had conducted the survey. Most of the leaders participated in both individual and focus group interviews. Data was analyzed using qualitative content analysis.

Project Manager

Rose Mari Olsen

Centre for Care Research, Mid

Phone: 976 06 180

Email: rose.m.olsen@nord.no

Funding:

Directorate of Health