Management of adverse clinical events by duty physicians in a nursing home

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The nature of adverse clinical events (ACE) during duty hours (16:00-08:00 and holidays), as well as the way they are addressed by duty physicians (DP) in a nursing home (NH) are the subject of this study. METHODS: Data, including medical details concerning ACEs and the resultant referrals to hospital, were collected prospectively during 183 consecutive days in a 90-bed NH. RESULTS: Ninety-six residents experienced 370 ACEs, representing an average of one for every 44.5 patient days. The highest rate of events was during evening hours (18:00-21:00). The most prevalent ACE was fever (32%). Most cases (53%) were treated by the DPs on site. No intervention was needed in 19% of cases, whereas 28% of ACEs (104 cases) were referred to the Emergency Room (ER) of a general hospital. Sixty-six percent of these were actually admitted. The rate of ER referral of residents was one for every 158 patient days. About 40% of the referred patients had been discharged from hospital the previous week. High fever was the commonest cause for referral: 47%. During the working hours of the study period, the rate of referral by the staff physician was only 1 for every 915 patient days. Only 17% of these had high fever. CONCLUSIONS: Evening rounds by staff physicians, strengthening of working relations with hospital physicians, as well as fostering intravenous treatment in NHs, are suggested as means for reducing hospital transfers. A standardized method for the reporting of ACEs and referrals to hospitals should be adopted in order to facilitate comparisons between NHs and to evaluate its use as a quality indicator.     

Precipitants of emergency room visits and acute hospitalization in short-stay medicare nursing home residents

OBJECTIVES: To determine what precipitates rehospitalization for residents who become acutely ill in the first 90 days of a nursing home (NH) admission. DESIGN: NH medical record review comparing acutely ill Medicare admissions transferred back to hospital with those not transferred. SETTING: Sixty skilled nursing facilities in five states during 1994. PARTICIPANTS: Six hundred thirty-six residents who became acutely ill with urinary tract infection (UTI), pneumonia, or congestive heart failure (CHF) during the first 90 days of their nursing home admission were identified from 2,414 random NH Medicare admissions, excluding those with orders not to be hospitalized. MEASUREMENTS: Diagnosis, age, gender, advance care directives, nursing shift during which problem occurred, comorbidity, symptoms, and signs of acutely ill NH residents transferred to the hospital or emergency department were compared with those not transferred. RESULTS: Rates of hospitalization varied markedly by acute illness: 11 of residents with UTI, 46 with pneumonia, and 58 with an exacerbation of CHF (P< .001). In stratified multivariate analysis, older age decreased the odds of rehospitalization only for CHF. Male gender increased odds of hospitalization for pneumonia (odds ratio (OR) = 2.94) and decreased odds of hospitalization for CHF (OR = 0.28). Do not resuscitate orders were negatively associated with hospitalization only for pneumonia (OR = 0.23), whereas weekend and evening/night shifts increased odds of hospitalization for UTI. Each illness had its own set of symptoms, signs, and comorbidities associated with hospitalization.CONCLUSIONS: Whether an acutely ill NH Medicare patient was rehospitalized depended primarily on the particular illness. The relative importance of age, gender, shift, advance care directives, symptom severity, signs, and comorbid illnesses varied by diagnosis.     

Factors Associated with Potentially Preventable Hospitalization in Nursing Home Residents in New York State: A Survey of Directors of Nursing

OBJECTIVES: To describe characteristics of New York State nursing homes and identify factors associated with potentially preventable hospitalization in nursing home residents. DESIGN: Cross‐sectional survey. SETTING: Randomly selected nursing homes in New York State. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred forty‐seven directors of nursing (DONs). MEASUREMENTS: Data were collected using a Web‐based survey completed in January 2008. Variables included specific aspects of facility environment, nurse and aide services, resource availability, perceived determinants of hospitalization, and nursing home practice. Stepwise multivariate linear regression examined the associations between perceived determinants and potentially preventable hospitalization. RESULTS: Factors associated with potentially preventable hospitalization included presence of nursing staff trained to communicate effectively with physicians (P<.001); easy access to urgent laboratory results in less than 4 hours on weekends (P=.03); that physicians attempt to treat patients within the nursing home and admit to the hospital as a last resort (P<.001); higher reported proportion of residents enrolled in managed care plans for regular medical care (P=.04); higher perceived likelihood that illness will cause death (P=.03); perceived inadequate access by physicians to residents' and prior medical history, laboratory results, and electrocardiograms (ECGs) (P=.02), as reported by DONs. CONCLUSION: Efficient and effective care depends on continuity of communication between nurses and physicians and adequate access to patients' medical history, laboratory results, and ECGs. The following operational strategies may help institutions reduce potentially preventable hospitalizations: ensure effective communication between nursing staff and physicians regarding patients' condition; provide physicians with easy access to stat laboratory results in less than 4 hours on weekends and adequate access to the patient's medical history, laboratory results, and ECGs; and motivate physicians to treat residents within the nursing home whenever possible.     

Derivation and confirmation of scales measuring medical directors' attitudes about the hospitalization of nursing home residents

OBJECTIVE: To derive and confirm scales measuring medical director's attitudes about hospitalization of nursing home residents. METHOD: The authors surveyed nursing facility medical directors about the necessity of hospitalizing residents for eight clinical conditions and compared the ratings to those obtained from an expert panel to derive a relative hospitalization score. They also asked about factors that might influence hospitalization decisions. They performed a factor analysis to derive scales that measure attitudinal determinants of hospitalization and used the relative hospitalization score to confirm the scales. RESULTS: The survey had a 79% response rate. The relative hospitalization score demonstrated that medical directors were slightly less likely to recommend hospitalization than expert panel physicians. Factor analyses yielded 10 scales focusing on nursing home functioning, economics, resident specific considerations, and physician attitudes. Eight of the 10 scales had significant bivariable associations with the relative hospitalization score, and 6 had significant multivariable associations. DISCUSSION: Medical directors identify multiple determinants of hospitalization for nursing facility residents across several domains. Hospitalization decisions for nursing facility residents are complex and involve clinical and nonclinical factors.     

Randomized trial of a warfarin communication protocol for nursing homes: an SBAR-based approach

Background

More than 1.6 million Americans currently reside in nursing homes. As many as 12% of them receive long-term anticoagulant therapy with warfarin. Prior research has demonstrated compelling evidence of safety problems with warfarin therapy in this setting, often associated with suboptimal communication between nursing home staff and prescribing physicians.

Methods

We conducted a randomized trial of a warfarin management protocol using facilitated telephone communication between nurses and physicians in 26 nursing homes in Connecticut in 2007-2008. Intervention facilities received a warfarin management communication protocol using the approach “Situation, Background, Assessment, and Recommendation” (SBAR). The protocol included an SBAR template to standardize telephone communication about residents on warfarin by requiring information about the situation triggering the call, the background, the nurse's assessment, and recommendations.

Results

There were 435 residents who received warfarin therapy during the study period for 55,167 resident days in the intervention homes and 53,601 in control homes. In intervention homes, residents' international normalized ratio (INR) values were in the therapeutic range a statistically significant 4.50% more time than in control homes (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.31%-8.69%). There was no difference in obtaining a follow-up INR within 3 days after an INR value ≥4.5 (odds ratio 1.02; 95% CI, 0.44-2.4). Rates of preventable adverse warfarin-related events were lower in intervention homes, although this result was not statistically significant: the incident rate ratio for any preventable adverse warfarin-related event was .87 (95% CI, .54-1.4).

Conclusion

Facilitated telephone communication between nurses and physicians using the SBAR approach modestly improves the quality of warfarin management for nursing home residents. (Registered on ClinicalTrials. gov; URL:http://clinicaltrials.gov/. Registration number: NCT00682773).     

Effect of Influenza Vaccination of Nursing Home Staff on Mortality of Residents: A Cluster-Randomized Trial

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effect of staff influenza vaccination on all-cause mortality in nursing home residents.
DESIGN: Pair-matched cluster-randomized trial.
SETTING: Forty nursing homes matched for size, staff vaccination coverage during the previous season, and resident disability index.
PARTICIPANTS: All persons aged 60 and older residing in the nursing homes.
INTERVENTION: Influenza vaccine was administered to volunteer staff after a face-to-face interview. No intervention took place in control nursing homes.
MEASUREMENTS: The primary endpoint was total mortality rate in residents from 2 weeks before to 2 weeks after the influenza epidemic in the community. Secondary endpoints were rates of hospitalization and influenza-like illness (ILI) in residents and sick leave from work in staff.
RESULTS: Staff influenza vaccination rates were 69.9% in the vaccination arm versus 31.8% in the control arm. Primary unadjusted analysis did not show significantly lower mortality in residents in the vaccination arm (odds ratio=0.86, P =.08), although multivariate-adjusted analysis showed 20% lower mortality ( P =.02), and a strong correlation was observed between staff vaccination coverage and all-cause mortality in residents (correlation coefficient=−0.42, P =.007). In the vaccination arm, significantly lower resident hospitalization rates were not observed, but ILI in residents was 31% lower ( P =.007), and sick leave from work in staff was 42% lower ( P =.03).
CONCLUSION: These results support influenza vaccination of staff caring for institutionalized elderly people.     

Factors contributing to the hospitalization of nursing home residents

This anthropological study describes and analyzes the clinical and social-structural factors contributing to the hospitalization of nursing home residents. In 48.2% of the cases, hospitalization could have been avoided. Factors such as an insufficient number of adequately trained nursing staff, the inability of nursing staff to administer and monitor intravenous therapy, lack of diagnostic services, and pressure for transfer from the staff and family contributed to hospitalization. In the United States each year, an estimated 216,000 nursing home residents who are hospitalized might be treated in the nursing home, for a cost savings of $942,763,530.     

The effect of culture-positive influenza type A on resource use and adverse events in nursing home residents

OBJECTIVES: To determine adverse clinical events and resource utilization associated with culture-positive influenza A in nursing home residents. DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study with cases and controls. SETTING: Seven hundred twenty-one-bed skilled nursing facility. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred fifty-four residents (21% of all residents) from whom influenza A was isolated during the 1997/98 season and matched controls. MEASUREMENTS: Baseline parameters, staff interventions, diagnostic tests, and adverse events were recorded from 60 days before to 60 days after specimen collection. The difference between each individual's before and after measurements determined excess utilization secondary to influenza. Controls were studied to determine time series effects. RESULTS: Baseline Minimum Data Set and nutritional parameters demonstrated significantly greater (P <.05) feeding dependency and lower serum albumin in the control group. Time series effects in the control group were negligible. Among cases, there were nine deaths within 30 days; among controls, there were four (chi2 P =.26). Within 30 days of onset, an average excess of 18 notations by nursing staff, one phone call to the physician, and one to family was noted per case. In half of cases, a nonscheduled physician visit was required. There was a 20% excess in physician orders for oxygen and bronchodilators. Chest x-rays were performed in half of the cases, and antibiotics were prescribed to half. Sixteen percent of cases had radiographic pneumonia, and 2% had congestive heart failure. The average cost for excess chest x-rays, laboratory services, antimicrobials, ambulance calls, hospital days, and emergency room and physician visits was $943.44. This does not include efforts by nursing home staff who accommodate functional decline on-site. CONCLUSION: An unexpected finding was that there were more impaired individuals who were less likely to have influenza detected or less likely to acquire influenza in the control group than in the influenza group. The morbidity, mortality, excess staff effort, and measured expenditure justify efforts to prevent influenza.     

Prevalence of Constipation Symptoms in Fecally Incontinent Nursing Home Residents

OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of constipation symptoms and the effects of a brief toileting assistance trial on constipation in a sample of fecally incontinent nursing home (NH) residents.
DESIGN: Observational study.
SETTING: Five NHs.
PARTICIPANTS: One hundred eleven fecally incontinent NH residents.
MEASURES: Research staff measured bowel movement frequency every 2 hours for 10 days. The following week, residents were offered toileting assistance every 2 hours for 2 days to determine resident straining, time required for a bowel movement, and resident perceptions of feeling empty after a bowel movement. Constipation data were abstracted from the medical record.
RESULTS: The frequency of bowel movements during usual NH care was low (mean=0.32 per person per day), and most episodes were incontinent. The frequency of bowel movements increased significantly, to 0.82 per person per day, and most episodes were continent during the 2 days that research staff provided toileting assistance. Eleven percent of residents showed evidence of straining, and 21% of the time after a continent bowel movement, residents reported not feeling empty. Five percent of participants had medical record or Minimum Data Set documentation indicative of constipation symptoms.
CONCLUSION: Low rates of bowel movements during the day that are potentially indicative of constipation were immediately improved during a 2-day trial of toileting assistance in approximately 68% of the residents, although other symptoms of constipation remained in a subset of residents who increased toileting frequency.     

Effect of a pharmacist-led multicomponent intervention focusing on the medication monitoring phase to prevent potential adverse drug events in nursing homes

OBJECTIVES: To determine the extent to which the use of a clinical informatics tool that implements prospective monitoring plans reduces the incidence of potential delirium, falls, hospitalizations potentially due to adverse drug events, and mortality. DESIGN: Randomized cluster trial. SETTING: Twenty‐five nursing homes serviced by two long‐term care pharmacies. PARTICIPANTS: Residents living in nursing homes during 2003 (1,711 in 12 intervention; 1,491 in 13 usual care) and 2004 (1,769 in 12 intervention; 1,552 in 13 usual care). INTERVENTION: The pharmacy automatically generated Geriatric Risk Assessment MedGuide (GRAM) reports and automated monitoring plans for falls and delirium within 24 hours of admission or as part of the normal time frame of federally mandated drug regimen review. MEASUREMENTS: Incidence of potential delirium, falls, hospitalizations potentially due to adverse drug events, and mortality. RESULTS: GRAM triggered monitoring plans for 491 residents. Newly admitted residents in the intervention homes experienced a lower rate of potential delirium onset than those in usual care homes (adjusted hazard ratio (HR)=0.42, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.35–0.52), overall hospitalization (adjusted HR=0.89, 95% CI=0.72–1.09), and mortality (adjusted HR=0.88, 95% CI=0.66–1.16). In longer stay residents, the effects of the intervention were attenuated, and all estimates included unity. CONCLUSION: Using health information technology in long‐term care pharmacies to identify residents who might benefit from the implementation of prospective medication monitoring care plans when complex medication regimens carry potential risks for falls and delirium may reduce adverse effects associated with appropriate medication use.     

Improving food intake in nursing home residents with feeding assistance: a staffing analysis.

BACKGROUND: Recommendations have been made to increase the number of nursing home (NH) staff available to provide feeding assistance during mealtime. There are, however, no specific data related to two critical variables necessary to estimate mealtime staffing needs: (1) How many residents are responsive to feeding assistance? (2) How much staff time is required to provide feeding assistance to these residents? The purpose of this study was to collect preliminary data relevant to these two issues. METHODS: Seventy-four residents in three NHs received a 2-day, or six-meal, trial of one-on-one feeding assistance. Total percentage (0% to 100%) of food and fluid consumed during mealtime was estimated across 3 days during usual NH care and 2 days during the intervention. The amount of time that staff spent providing assistance and type of assistance (i.e., frequency of verbal and physical prompts) was measured under each condition. RESULTS: One half (50%) of the participants significantly increased their oral food and fluid intake during mealtime. The intervention required significantly more staff time to implement (average of 38 minutes per resident/meal vs 9 minutes rendered by NH staff). CONCLUSIONS: The time required to implement the feeding assistance intervention greatly exceeded the time the nursing staff spent assisting residents in usual mealtime care conditions. These data suggest that it will almost certainly be necessary to both increase staffing levels and to organize staff better to produce higher quality feeding assistance during mealtimes.     

The nursing home at night: effects of an intervention on noise, light, and sleep

OBJECTIVES: The sleep of nursing home residents is fragmented by frequent awakening episodes associated, at least in part, with environmental variables, including noise and light changes. The purpose of this study was to improve sleep by reducing the frequency of nighttime noise and light changes. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Two hundred sixty-seven incontinent nursing home residents in eight nursing homes. DESIGN: A randomized control group design with a delayed intervention for the control group. MEASUREMENTS: Bedside noise and light monitors recorded the number of 2-minute intervals at night with peak sounds recorded above 50 dBs and the number of light changes of at least 10 lux between adjacent 2-minute intervals. Daytime behavioral observations measured sleep and in-bed time during the day, and wrist activity was used to estimate sleep at night. Awakening events associated with the environmental variables were derived from the wrist activity data. INTERVENTION: A behavioral intervention implemented between 7:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. that involved feedback to nursing home staff about noise levels and implementation by research staff of procedures to both abate noise (e.g., turn off unwatched television sets) and to individualize nighttime incontinence care routines to be less disruptive to sleep. RESULTS: Noise was reduced significantly, from an average of 83 intervals per night with peak noises recorded above 50 dBs to an average of 58 intervals per night in the group that received the initial intervention, whereas noise in the control group showed no change (MANOVA group x time P < .001). All 10-dB categories of noise from 50 to 90+ dBs were reduced, and light changes were reduced from an average of four per night per resident to two per night (P < .001). Despite these significant changes in the environmental variables, there was a significant differential improvement in the intervention group on only two night sleep measures: awakening associated with a combination of noise plus light (P < .001) and awakening associated with light (P < .001). However, there was a significant correlation between change in noise and change in percent sleep from baseline to intervention (r = -.29, P < .05), suggesting that the intervention did not reduce noise to low enough levels to produce a significant improvement in sleep. The intervention effects on all environmental variables were replicated in the delayed intervention group, who again showed significant improvement on the same sleep measures. Observations of day sleep and in-bed time did not change over the phases of the trial for either group. CONCLUSION: The significant reductions in noise and light events resulting from the intervention did not lead to significant improvements in the day sleep and most night sleep measures. An intervention that combines both behavioral and environmental strategies and that addresses daytime behavioral factors associated with poor sleep (e.g., excessive time in bed) would potentially be more effective in improving the night sleep and quality of life of nursing home residents.     

Use of Postacute Care by Nursing Home Residents Hospitalized for Stroke or Hip Fracture: How Prevalent and to What End?

OBJECTIVES: To examine nursing home (NH) residents' use of Medicare‐paid skilled nursing facility (SNF) services and the outcomes of that care and to identify clinical and non‐clinical factors associated with that care. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort. SETTING: United States. PARTICIPANTS: NH residents aged 65 and older with Medicare claims for a hospitalization for hip fracture or stroke during 2001 to 2003. MEASUREMENTS: Resident diagnoses and use of SNF postacute care were measured using Medicare hospital claims. Market and provider characteristics were drawn from the Provider of Services file. Baseline characteristics, institutionalization, and mortality outcomes were drawn from the Minimum Data Set and Medicare Denominator File. RESULTS: Of the NH population hospitalized for hip fracture (49,903) or stroke (23,084), 79.7% and 64.1%, respectively, used the SNF benefit. Residents not using the SNF benefit had poorer baseline health status; their mortality rates and rates of resuming long‐term care were similar to the rates of residents who used the SNF benefit. CONCLUSION: NH residents used postacute SNF benefits at high rates yet had similar mortality and institutionalization outcomes as those without SNF care.     

The Minimum Data Set Weight‐Loss Quality Indicator: Does It Reflect Differences in Care Processes Related to Weight Loss?

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether nursing homes (NHs) that score differently on prevalence of weight loss, according to a Minimum Data Set (MDS) quality indicator, also provide different processes of care related to weight loss. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SETTING: Sixteen skilled nursing facilities: 11 NHs in the lower (25th percentile-low prevalence) quartile and five NHs in the upper (75th percentile-high prevalence) quartile on the MDS weight-loss quality indicator. PARTICIPANTS: Four hundred long-term residents. MEASUREMENTS: Sixteen care processes related to weight loss were defined and operationalized into clinical indicators. Trained research staff conducted measurement of NH staff implementation of each care process during assessments on three consecutive 12-hour days (7 a.m. to 7 p.m.), which included direct observations during meals, resident interviews, and medical record abstraction using standardized protocols. RESULTS: The prevalence of weight loss was significantly higher in the participants in the upper quartile NHs than in participants in the lower quartile NHs based on MDS and monthly weight data documented in the medical record. NHs with a higher prevalence of weight loss had a significantly larger proportion of residents with risk factors for weight loss, namely low oral food and fluid intake. There were few significant differences on care process measures between low- and high-weight-loss NHs. Staff in low-weight-loss NHs consistently provided verbal prompting and social interaction during meals to a greater proportion of residents, including those most at risk for weight loss. CONCLUSION: The MDS weight-loss quality indicator reflects differences in the prevalence of weight loss between NHs. NHs with a lower prevalence of weight loss have fewer residents at risk for weight loss and staff who provide verbal prompting and social interaction to more residents during meals, but the adequacy and quality of feeding assistance care needs improvement in all NHs.     

Decisions to forgo hospitalization in advanced dementia: a nationwide study

OBJECTIVES: To examine the prevalence and factors associated with decisions to forgo hospitalization in nursing home (NH) residents with advanced dementia. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: All Medicare- and Medicaid-certified NHs within the 48 contiguous U.S. states. PARTICIPANTS: NH residents with advanced dementia were identified using Minimum Data Set (MDS) assessments completed close to April 1, 2000 (N=91,521). MEASUREMENTS: Multilevel, multivariate logistic regression identified factors independently associated with having a do-not-hospitalize (DNH) directive. Independent variables included subject characteristics (MDS), facility factors (On-line Survey of Certification of Automated Records), and hospital referral region (HRR) features (Dartmouth Atlas). RESULTS: Nationwide, 7.1% (n=6,518) residents with advanced dementia had DNH orders (range 0.7% in Oklahoma to 25.9% in Rhode Island). Resident characteristics associated with having a DNH order were older age, white, living will, durable power of attorney for health care, and total functional dependence. Controlling for these factors, DNH orders were more likely in residents of facilities with the following features: not part of a chain, urban location, special care dementia unit, fewer black residents, nurse practitioner or physician assistant on staff, higher staffing ratios, and location in HRRs with fewer intensive care unit admissions during terminal hospitalizations. CONCLUSION: Directives to forgo hospitalization for U.S. NH residents with advanced dementia are uncommon and are associated with the organizational features of the facilities caring for them and the intensity of end-of-life care practiced in the region, as well as individual resident characteristics.     

Prompted Voiding for Nighttime Incontinence in Nursing Homes: Is it Effective?

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether prompted voiding (PV) is effective for nighttime urinary incontinence in nursing home (NH) residents and whether residents who respond well to daytime PV also respond well at night. DESIGN: Prospective case series. SETTING: Four community NHs. PARTICIPANTS: Sixty-one long-stay incontinent NH residents of mean age 88 years, 75% female. MEASUREMENTS: The percentage of hourly checks for wetness and the appropriate toileting rate (continent voids divided by total voids) were measured during 3 days (7 a.m.-7 p.m.) of PV, and for an average of 5 nights (7 p.m.-7 a.m.), during which a modified PV protocol, designed to be minimally disruptive to sleep, was carried out. RESULTS: Fourteen residents (23%) responded well to daytime PV, with average wetness and appropriate toileting rates of 5% and 73%, respectively. In the group as a whole, nighttime PV was not effective, with wetness and appropriate toileting rates of 49% and 18%, respectively. Among those who responded well to daytime PV, wetness rates during nighttime PV remained significantly higher than during the day (24% vs. 5%; P = .000), and nighttime appropriate toileting rates were significantly lower (39% vs. 73%; P = .002). The poor response rate at night was primarily observed between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. CONCLUSIONS: In this sample of incontinent NH residents, nighttime PV, even when carried out so as to minimize sleep disruption, was not an effective intervention. Although residents who responded well to daytime PV responded better to nighttime PV than those who did not respond to daytime PV, their wetness rates remained relatively high and their appropriate toileting rates were low. These data suggest that routine nighttime toileting programs should not be carried out for the majority of incontinent NH residents. Instead, individualized care based on resident's preferences, willingness to toilet at night, and sleep patterns should be emphasized.