Get the facts on staffing levels in nursing homes
Well-staffed nursing homes (also known as skilled nursing facilities) provide better care than those that are consistently short-staffed.
If your older adult needs a high level of care, pay attention to a main indicator of how well older adults will be cared for – how many residents per nurse in a nursing home.
It makes sense that if there are only a few nurses or aides taking care of a large number of residents, there’s little chance that each person will be able to get help when needed.
Unfortunately, asking the administration about nursing home staffing ratios might not get you a completely honest answer.
To help you find a good nursing home in the area, we found a useful free tool from KHN.
Their tool lets you look up staffing numbers for individual nursing homes across the United States. It also shows how those numbers differ on best days versus worst days.
We explain how to use KHN’s free nursing home staffing level look-up tool and share screenshots of the tool’s results.
Find out how many residents per nurse in a nursing home
The look-up tool that KHN has created is simple to use. It shows how Medicare rates overall and registered nurse staffing for each facility.
The tool also shows the average number of residents per registered nurse and per aide on the best and worst staffing days.
To find the staffing levels at nursing homes in your area, visit the KHN look-up tool webpage. Then, choose the State and enter the name of a nursing home or the name of the city. These fields are located just below the staffing rating map.
KHN’s nursing home staffing rating map, state and nursing home or city selector
KHN’s list of nursing home staffing numbers
Next Step Use KHN’s simple look-up tool to find nursing home staffing levels in your area
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Image: Ancora Home Care
About the Author
Connie Chow
Connie was a hands-on caregiver for her grandmother for 20 years. (Grandma made it to 101 years old!) She knows how challenging, overwhelming, and all-consuming caring for an older adult can be. She also knows how important support is — especially in the form of practical solutions, valuable resources, and self-care tips.
