Improving Quality of Life for Older People in Long-Stay Care ...

In private and voluntary facilities, where dependency is, as observed earlier,lower than in public facilities excluding welfare homes, the ratio of registerednurses to residents is highest. For facilities with forty residents or less theratio is 1:4.7, while for homes with more than forty residents the ratio rises to1:6.5. Overall, there is a statistically significant relationship between the levelof dependency among residents and the ratio of RNs to residents. However,that relationship is strongest within public facilities. Table 6.4 shows the ratio ofnon-registered nursing care staff to residents. The ratio of non-registered nursingcare staff in public facilities is broadly similar to private and voluntary facilities,except for welfare homes which have a slightly higher ratio.Table 6.4: Ratio of non-nursing care staff to (all) residentsby facility type and size40 residents>40 residentsNNonnursingcare staffResidents N Nonnursingcare staffResidentsAll facilities 196 1 2.4 108 1 2.7PrivatenursinghomesPublichomes/hospitalsVoluntaryhomes/hospitalsDistrict/communityhospitalsWelfarehomes142 1 2.4 53 1 2.413 1 2.5 24 1 3.014 1 2.0 15 1 2.415 1 2.9 14 1 3.212 1 3.4 2 1 3.0121These ratios are only general indicators of staffing as they do not represent staffon duty at any particular time, given holidays, sick leave and other types of leave.Tables 6.5, 6.6 and 6.7 examine the ratio of registered nurses to residents on themorning, evening and night shift in each type of facility by size of facility. In allfacilities, there are significantly more registered nurses on the morning shift thanthere are on the evening or night shifts. For facilities of forty beds or less the ratio