Nursing homes across the nation are seeing a meaningful gain in quality improvement, an American Health Care Association report published April 14 found.
These improvements, measured between 2023 and 2025, show progress beyond where measures stood before the pandemic, the report said.
“The progress we are seeing is indicative of the never-ending commitment of nursing home caregivers to improve the lives of their residents, seek out the latest best practices, and continuously innovate,” Clif Porter, president and CEO of the AHCA, said in a news release. “The data is confirmation of the inspiring efforts that we have witnessed in recent years. We’re not just recovering but reinvigorating efforts to deliver high-quality nursing home care.”
Here are the biggest improvements, according to the report:
1. Among nursing homes, 11% saw a decrease in nursing turnover and temporary staff agency use dropped by 45%.
2. Nursing homes helped avoid more than 14,000 emergency room visits, a decrease of 3.8%.
3. Nearly 30,000 more patients successfully returned home and almost 95,000 more short-stay patients improved functional abilities.
4. Among long-stay residents, pressure ulcers and catheter use decreased 37.1%, and urinary tract infections fell 25%.
5. Resident and family satisfaction also rose to 84.3% and 75.9%, respectively.
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