Factors associated with avoidable hospital transfers among residents in Swiss nursing homes.

Unplanned hospitalizations from nursing homes (NHs) may be considered potentially avoidable and can result in adverse resident outcomes. There is little information about the relationship between a clinical assessment conducted by a physician or geriatric nurse expert before hospitalization and an ensuing rating of avoidability. This study aimed to describe characteristics of unplanned hospitalizations (admitted residents with at least one night stay, emergency department visits were excluded) and to examine this relationship. We conducted a cohort study in 11 Swiss NHs and retrospectively evaluated data from the root cause analysis of 230 unplanned hospitalizations. A telephone assessment by a physician (p=.043) and the need for further medical clarification and treatment (p=<0.001) were the principal factors related to ratings of avoidability. Geriatric nurse experts can support NH teams in acute situations and assess residents while adjudicating unplanned hospitalizations. Constant support for nurses expanding their clinical role is still warranted.

Administrative burden in Swiss nursing homes and its association with care workers' outcomes-a multicenter cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Care workers in nursing homes often perform tasks that are rather related to organizational or management activities than 'direct patient care'. 'Indirect care activities', such as documentation or other administrative tasks are often considered by care workers as a burden, as they increase overall workload and keep them away from caring for residents. So far, there is little investigation into what kind of administrative tasks are being performed in nursing homes, by which type of care workers, and to which extent, nor how administrative burden is associated with care workers' outcomes. PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to describe care workers' administrative burden in Swiss nursing homes and to explore the association with four care worker outcomes (i.e., job dissatisfaction, emotional exhaustion, intention to leave the current job and the profession). METHODS: This multicenter cross-sectional study used survey data from the Swiss Nursing Homes Human Resources Project 2018. It included a convenience sample of 118 nursing homes and 2'207 care workers (i.e., registered nurses, licensed practical nurses) from Switzerland's German- and French-speaking regions. Care workers completed questionnaires assessing the administrative tasks and burden, staffing and resource adequacy, leadership ability, implicit rationing of nursing care and care worker characteristics and outcomes. For the analysis, we applied generalized linear mixed models, including individual-level nurse survey data and data on unit and facility characteristics. RESULTS: Overall, 73.9% (n = 1'561) of care workers felt strongly or rather strongly burdened, with one third (36.6%, n = 787) reporting to spend 2 h or more during a "normal" day performing administrative tasks. Ratings for administrative burden ranged from 42.6% (n = 884; ordering supplies and managing stocks) to 75.3% (n = 1'621; filling out the resident's health record). One out of four care workers (25.5%, n = 561) intended to leave the profession, whereby care workers reporting higher administrative task burden (OR = 1.24; 95%CI: 1.02-1.50) were more likely to intend to leave the profession. CONCLUSION: This study provides first insights on care workers' administrative burden in nursing homes. By limiting care workers' burdensome administrative tasks and/or shifting such tasks from higher to lower educated care workers or administrative personnel when appropriate, nursing home managers could reduce care workers' workload and improve their job satisfaction and retention in the profession.

Expanded role of nurses in Swiss nursing homes and their engagement in quality improvement: A cross-sectional study.

AIMS: To report on the engagement of Swiss nursing homes and of nurses in expanded roles in quality improvement. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study (2018-2019). METHODS: Survey data from a sample of 115 Swiss nursing homes and 104 nurses in expanded roles. Descriptive statistics were used. RESULTS: Most participating nursing homes reported carrying several quality improvement activities (median of eight out of 10 activities surveyed) but some were only engaged in five activities or less. Nursing homes working with nurses in expanded roles (n = 83) showed greater engagement in quality improvement than those working with none. Nurses with more advanced qualifications (Bachelor's or Master's degree) engaged more in quality improvement than nurses with standard training. Specifically, higher educated nurses were more involved in data-focused activities. Using nurses in expanded roles can be a way forward for nursing homes seeking to actively carry out quality improvement in their facilities. CONCLUSION: Although a large proportion of nurses in expanded roles surveyed were implementing quality activities, their level of engagement depended on their educational level. Our findings support the principle that higher level competencies are a key aspect of data-based quality improvement in nursing homes. However, as Advance Practice Registered Nurses will remain difficult to recruit in nursing homes, using nurses in expanded roles might contribute to quality improvement.

Increasing implicit rationing of care in nursing homes: A time-series cross-sectional analysis.

BACKGROUND: Implicit rationing of nursing care is a socio-ecological problem where care workers, due to lack of resources, have to leave necessary nursing care activities undone. Cross-sectional studies on implicit rationing of nursing home care revealed associations with organizational and work environment characteristics. However, little is known on how implicit rationing of nursing care varies over time in nursing homes. OBJECTIVE: This study's purpose was to describe changes in levels and patterns of implicit rationing of nursing care in Swiss nursing homes over time, while accounting for key explanatory factors related to organizational, work environment, and individual characteristics. DESIGN: Time-series cross-sectional analysis. SETTING: Nursing homes in Switzerland. PARTICIPANTS: A convenience sample of 47 nursing homes and 3269 care workers from all educational levels participating in two multicenter cross-sectional studies (the Swiss Nursing Home Human Resources Project) conducted in 2013 and 2018. METHODS: To quantify implicit rationing of nursing care, care workers' data were collected via the nursing home version of the Basel Extent of Rationing of Nursing Care instrument. To control for leadership ability, staffing and resource adequacy, we used the Nursing Work Index-Practice Environment Scale. Objective measures including turnover, staffing and skill mix levels were aggregated at the nursing home level. Our analyses included multiple linear mixed models, using time as a fixed effect and nursing home as a random effect. RESULTS: We found overall increases of rationing of care activities over the five-year period studied, with documentation and social activities most rationed at both measurement points (overall coefficients varied between 0.11 and 0.23, as well as the 95%-confidence intervals between 0.05 and 0.30). Moreover, a considerable increase in rationing of activities of daily living (coefficient of 0.47 in 2013 and 0.63 in 2018) was observed. CONCLUSIONS: Alongside long-term deterioration of staff resources, increases in rationing of nursing care are a worrying development, particularly given their potential negative impacts both on residents and on care workers. To assess nursing home care quality and to determine adequate staffing levels and skill mixes, policy makers and nursing home managers should consider regular monitoring of rationing of nursing care. TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: Time-series cross-sectional analysis reveals increasing rationing of nursing care activities in Swiss nursing homes from 2013 to 2018.

Health economic evaluation of a nurse-led care model from the nursing home perspective focusing on residents' hospitalisations.

BACKGROUND: Health economic evaluations of the implementation of evidence-based interventions (EBIs) into practice provide vital information but are rarely conducted. We evaluated the health economic impact associated with implementation and intervention of the INTERCARE model-an EBI to reduce hospitalisations of nursing home (NH) residents-compared to usual NH care. METHODS: The INTERCARE model was conducted in 11 NHs in Switzerland. It was implemented as a hybrid type 2 effectiveness-implementation study with a multi-centre non-randomised stepped-wedge design. To isolate the implementation strategies' costs, time and other resources from the NHs' perspective, we applied time-driven activity-based costing. To define its intervention costs, time and other resources, we considered intervention-relevant expenditures, particularly the work of the INTERCARE nurse-a core INTERCARE element. Further, the costs and revenues from the hotel and nursing services were analysed to calculate the NHs' losses and savings per resident hospitalisation. Finally, alongside our cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA), a sensitivity analysis focused on the intervention's effectiveness-i.e., regarding reduction of the hospitalisation rate-relative to the INTERCARE costs. All economic variables and CEA were assessed from the NHs' perspective. RESULTS: Implementation strategy costs and time consumption per bed averaged 685CHF and 9.35 h respectively, with possibilities to adjust material and human resources to each NH's needs. Average yearly intervention costs for the INTERCARE nurse salary per bed were 939CHF with an average of 1.4 INTERCARE nurses per 100 beds and an average employment rate of 76% of full-time equivalent per nurse. Resident hospitalisation represented a total average loss of 52% of NH revenues, but negligible cost savings. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of the INTERCARE model compared to usual care was 22'595CHF per avoided hospitalisation. As expected, the most influential sensitivity analysis variable regarding the CEA was the pre- to post-INTERCARE change in hospitalisation rate. CONCLUSIONS: As initial health-economic evidence, these results indicate that the INTERCARE model was more costly but also more effective compared to usual care in participating Swiss German NHs. Further implementation and evaluation of this model in randomised controlled studies are planned to build stronger evidential support for its clinical and economic effectiveness. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov ( NCT03590470 ).

Association of surveillance technology and staff opinions with physical restraint use in nursing homes: Cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Physical restraints are used in nursing homes (NHs) despite their negative consequences. Use of surveillance technologies as alternatives to physical forms of restraints and negative staff opinions about the appropriateness of restraint use have been postulated to reduce this practice; however, these have rarely been investigated alongside resident outcome data. This study aimed to measure physical restraint prevalence in Swiss NHs and its associations with (a) the use of surveillance technologies and (b) staff's opinion about the appropriateness of physical restraint use. METHODS: This cross-sectional multicenter study analyzed data on 3,137 staff and 6,149 residents of 292 units in 86 Swiss NHs (2018-2019). Based on routine resident data, we measured the prevalence of two classes of physical restraint: (a) bedrails or (b) trunk fixation or seating option that prevents standing. To assess potential factors associated with restraint use, we applied a logistic multilevel model. RESULTS: A 11.1% of residents were restrained with at least one form of physical restraint. Against our hypothesis, surveillance technologies were not significantly associated with restraint use, and staff members' opinion that the use of physical restraints was appropriate on their unit was associated with decreased odds of residents being restrained (odds ratio (OR): 0.48; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.29-0.80). CONCLUSIONS: Although Swiss NHs have a low prevalence of physical restraint use, only a minority of NH units do not use any restraints with their residents. Surveillance technologies seem to be used concurrently with restraints and not as an alternative. Further research should investigate staff's current and intended uses of surveillance technologies in practice. Staff members' opinion that they use restraints inappropriately might correctly reflect overuse of restraints on their unit. If so, staff ratings of inappropriate restraint use may identify units that need improvement.

Positive effect of the INTERCARE nurse-led model on reducing nursing home transfers: A nonrandomized stepped-wedge design.

BACKGROUND: Unplanned nursing home (NH) transfers are burdensome for residents and costly for health systems. Innovative nurse-led models of care focusing on improving in-house geriatric expertise are needed to decrease unplanned transfers. The aim was to test the clinical effectiveness of a comprehensive, contextually adapted geriatric nurse-led model of care (INTERCARE) in reducing unplanned transfers from NHs to hospitals. METHODS: A multicenter nonrandomized stepped-wedge design within a hybrid type-2 effectiveness-implementation study was implemented in 11 NHs in German-speaking Switzerland. The first NH enrolled in June 2018 and the last in November 2019. The study lasted 18 months, with a baseline period of 3 months for each NH. Inclusion criteria were 60 or more long-term care beds and 0.8 or more hospitalizations per 1'000 resident care days. Nine hundred and forty two long-term NH residents were included between June 2018 and January 2020 with informed consent. Short-term residents were excluded. The primary outcome was unplanned hospitalizations. A fully anonymized dataset of overall transfers of all NH residents served as validation. Analysis was performed with segmented mixed regression modeling. RESULTS: Three hundred and three unplanned and 64 planned hospitalizations occurred. During the baseline period, unplanned transfers increased over time (ß1  = 0.52), after which the trend significantly changed by a similar but opposite amount (ß2  = -0.52; p = 0.0001), resulting in a flattening of the average transfer rate throughout the postimplementation period (ß1  + ß2  ≈ 0). Controlling for age, gender, and cognitive performance did not affect these trends. The validation set showed a similar flattening trend. CONCLUSION: A complex intervention with six evidence-based components demonstrated effectiveness in significantly reducing unplanned transfers of NH residents to hospitals. INTERCARE's success was driven by registered nurses in expanded roles and the use of tools for clinical decision-making.

Factors associated with homecare coordination and quality of care: a research protocol for a national multi-center cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION: The persistent fragmentation of home healthcare reflects inadequate coordination between care providers. Still, while factors at the system (e.g., regulations) and organisational (e.g., work environment) levels crucially influence homecare organisation, coordination and ultimately quality, knowledge of these factors and their relationships in homecare settings remains limited. OBJECTIVES: This study has three aims: [1] to explore how system-level regulations lead to disparities between homecare agencies' structures, processes and work environments; [2] to explore how system- and organisation-level factors affect agency-level homecare coordination; and [3] to explore how agency-level care coordination is related to patient-level quality of care. DESIGN AND METHODS: This study focuses on a national multi-center cross-sectional survey in Swiss homecare settings. It will target 100 homecare agencies, their employees and clients for recruitment, with data collection period planned from January to June 2021. We will assess regulations and financing mechanisms (via public records), agency characteristics (via agency questionnaire data) and homecare employees' working environments and coordination activities, as well as staff- and patient-level perceptions of coordination and quality of care (via questionnaires for homecare employees, clients and informal caregivers). All collected data will be subjected to descriptive and multi-level analyses. DISCUSSION: The first results are expected by December 2021. Knowledge of factors linked to quality of care is essential to plan and implement quality improvement strategies. This study will help to identify modifiable factors at multiple health system levels that might serve as access points to improve coordination and quality of care.

Residents' and Relatives' Experiences of Acute Situations: A Qualitative Study to Inform a Care Model.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: As new models of care aiming to reduce hospitalizations from nursing homes emerge, their implementers must consider residents' and relatives' needs and experiences with acute changes in the residents' health situations. As part of the larger INTERCARE implementation study, we explored these persons' experiences of acute situations in Swiss nursing homes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: 3 focus groups were conducted with residents and their relatives and analyzed via reflexive thematic analysis. RESULTS: The first theme, the orchestra plays its standards, describes experiences of structured everyday care in nursing homes, which functions well despite limited professional and competency resources. The second theme, the orchestra reaches its limits, illustrates accounts of acute situations in which resources were insufficient to meet residents' needs. Interestingly, participants' perceptions of acute situations went well beyond our own professional view, that is, changes in health situations, and included situations best summarized as "changes that might have negative consequences for residents if not handled adequately by care workers." Within the third theme, the audience compensates for the orchestra's limitations, participants' strategies to cope with resource limitations in acute situations are summarized. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Our findings suggest differences between care providers' and participants' perspectives regarding acute situations and care priority setting. Alongside efforts to promote staff awareness of and responsiveness to acute situations, care staff must commit to learning and meeting individual residents' and relatives' needs. Implications for the development and implementation of a new nurse-led model of care are discussed.

Strengthening Geriatric Expertise in Swiss Nursing Homes: INTERCARE Implementation Study Protocol.

OBJECTIVES: Nursing home (NH) residents with complex care needs ask for attentive monitoring of changes and appropriate in-house decision making. However, access to geriatric expertise is often limited with a lack of geriatricians, general practitioners, and/or nurses with advanced clinical skills, leading to potentially avoidable hospitalizations. This situation calls for the development, implementation, and evaluation of innovative, contextually adapted nurse-led care models that support NHs in improving their quality of care and reducing hospitalizations by investing in effective clinical leadership, geriatric expertise, and care coordination. DESIGN: An effectiveness-implementation hybrid type 2 design to assess clinical outcomes of a nurse-led care model and a mixed-method approach to evaluate implementation outcomes will be applied. The model development, tailoring, and implementation are based on the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR). SETTING: NHs in the German-speaking region of Switzerland. PARTICIPANTS: Eleven NHs were recruited. The sample size was estimated assuming an average of .8 unplanned hospitalizations/1000 resident days and a reduction of 25% in NHs with the nurse-led care model. INTERVENTION: The multilevel complex context-adapted intervention consists of six core elements (eg, specifically trained INTERCARE nurses or evidence-based tools like Identify, Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendation [ISBAR]). Multilevel implementation strategies include leadership and INTERCARE nurse training and support. MEASUREMENTS: The primary outcomes are unplanned hospitalizations/1000 care days. Secondary outcomes include unplanned emergency department visits, quality indicators (eg, physical restraint use), and costs. Implementation outcomes included, for example, fidelity to the model's core elements. CONCLUSION: The INTERCARE study will provide evidence about the effectiveness of a nurse-led care model in the real-world setting and accompanying implementation strategies. J Am Geriatr Soc 67:2145-2150, 2019.