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The Public Health Nursing Role in Elder Neglect in Assisted Living Facilities
Author(s) -
Phillips Linda R.,
Ziminski Carolyn
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
public health nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.471
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1525-1446
pISSN - 0737-1209
DOI - 10.1111/j.1525-1446.2012.01029.x
Subject(s) - neglect , staffing , nursing , public health , medicine , exploratory research , health care , occupational safety and health , psychology , political science , sociology , law , pathology , anthropology
Objective Assisted living facilities ( ALF s) are a highly unregulated segment of health care serving a large group of vulnerable elders. The purpose of this study was to examine the scope of neglect and neglect‐related outcomes in ALF s and to determine whether citations given by state inspectors for certain institutional practices and staff inadequacies were associated with neglect. Design and Sample Exploratory descriptive. Citations given during routine inspections and narrative reports of complaint investigations written by A rizona state surveyors in 165 ALF s. Measures Database that included citations and allegations for the selected facilities. Results Neglect was related to numerous poor outcomes, including injury, emergency department visits, and relocation. Citations related to staff attitudes and inappropriate staffing were associated with more neglect. Data suggest that facilities with citations with enforcement actions had less neglect. Conclusions Public health nurses working with older adults residing in ALF s and working in communities that have ALFS need to be aware of the problem of neglect and its related outcomes and their role in public policy and education. Public health nurses working as facility inspectors need to be sensitive to the relationship of institutional practices and staff inadequacies and neglect.