2022
DOI: 10.1111/ajag.13132
|View full text |Cite
|
Sign up to set email alerts
|

The quality effects of agency staffing in residential aged care

Abstract: In residential aged care, the characteristics and composition of the direct care workforce are primary drivers of quality of care (QoC). 1 As such, it is unsurprising that workforce issues were highlighted as a central cause of substandard care by the recent Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety (RCACQS). 2 Several of these issues have subsequently been targeted for reform through minimum staffing standards, recruitment and

Help me understand this report

Search citation statements

Order By: Relevance

Paper Sections

Select...
3

Citation Types

1
2
0

Year Published

2022
2022
2024
2024

Publication Types

Select...
3
1

Relationship

0
4

Authors

Journals

citations
Cited by 4 publications
(3 citation statements)
references
References 16 publications
1
2
0
Order By: Relevance
“…Both NHAs and CNAs found this stopgap relief of little help because of the “quality risks” associated with agency/contract staff who were “unfamiliar with the facility workflows or residents’ needs and preferences” (Franzosa et al, 2022, p. 910). These observations are consistent with research linking agency staff to service discontinuity, poorer service quality, and by logical extension, managerial worries (Castle, 2011; Ma et al, 2022; Shen et al, 2022), and actual NHA turnover (Geletta & Sparks, 2013). Consistent with the NASEM (2022) workforce recommendations to improve NH quality, we recommend that NH policy administrators and industry leaders prioritize a strategy to address the staffing standards and expertise that are beyond the NHA’s ability to control.…”
Section: Discussionsupporting
confidence: 86%
“…Both NHAs and CNAs found this stopgap relief of little help because of the “quality risks” associated with agency/contract staff who were “unfamiliar with the facility workflows or residents’ needs and preferences” (Franzosa et al, 2022, p. 910). These observations are consistent with research linking agency staff to service discontinuity, poorer service quality, and by logical extension, managerial worries (Castle, 2011; Ma et al, 2022; Shen et al, 2022), and actual NHA turnover (Geletta & Sparks, 2013). Consistent with the NASEM (2022) workforce recommendations to improve NH quality, we recommend that NH policy administrators and industry leaders prioritize a strategy to address the staffing standards and expertise that are beyond the NHA’s ability to control.…”
Section: Discussionsupporting
confidence: 86%
“…Aged care across Australia has a workforce deficit at baseline [ 35 , 36 ], so this is further exacerbated when large numbers of staff are furloughed due to COVID-19. [ 37 ] Reliance on agency staff is suboptimal for both staff transmission [ 38 ] and resident outcomes [ 39 ] but even this resource was limited during the peak of each COVID-19 wave, with multiple facilities facing concurrent staffing shortages. [ 40 ] While this is a systemic issue beyond the scope of PHUs [ 8 , 41 ], it is crucial to remain mindful of both acute and chronic staffing concerns, given the implications it has on the feasibility of desired risk mitigation strategies.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…(9,19) Aged care across Australia has a workforce de cit at baseline (35)(36), so this is further exacerbated when large numbers of staff are furloughed due to COVID-19. (37) Reliance on agency staff is suboptimal for both staff transmission (38) and resident outcomes (39) but even this resource was limited during the peak of each COVID-19 wave, with multiple facilities facing concurrent sta ng shortages. (40) While this is a systemic issue beyond the scope of PHUs (8, 41), it is crucial to remain mindful of both acute and chronic sta ng concerns, given the implications it has on the feasibility of desired risk mitigation strategies.…”
Section: Discussionmentioning
confidence: 99%