Bush administration is worried by nursing homes problem

The use of physical restraints on nursing home patients has dropped by nearly a quarter in two years and fewer residents report suffering from pain, according to a report released yesterday by the &to= english.pravda.ru/war/2003/03/18/44603.html ' target=_blank>Bush administration. Nursing homes in Washington state also reported a decline in restraints and residents in pain, although the percentage of patients with bedsores increased in the state and nationwide, the report says. About 35,000 fewer patients are in restraints in the nation's 16,400 nursing homes on any given day, the report says. There are 249 nursing homes in Washington. The report is an assessment of the administration's program, begun in 2002, to tackle serious quality problems in many homes by making public information about patient care in every facility. All the information is based on data that &to= english.pravda.ru/society/2002/07/11/32320.html ' target=_blank>nursing homes must routinely collect from residents as part of their participation in the federal Medicare program. About 1.6 million people reside in nursing homes daily, including an estimated 21,000 in Washington state, publishes Seattle Post-Intelligencer. According to Boston, the Bush administration plans to expand a two-year-old initiative to improve nursing home quality that has so far had mixed results, officials announced yesterday. They said they will try to tackle some underlying problems with the way nursing homes are staffed and managed, including staff turnover, hiring of workers with criminal backgrounds, and the hospital-like environment in some homes. At a news conference, Health and Human Services Secretary &to= english.pravda.ru/world/2002/05/15/28744.html ' target=_blank>Tommy Thompson said "nursing home residents have better care," but acknowledged that "much more can be done." A Globe analysis published Dec. 13 found that the initiative reduced the portion of residents nationally who suffer from untreated pain and are placed in restraints, but had no significant impact on the portion with pressure sores or other problems. Faced with the persistence of poor-quality homes, the government has invested $120 million over three years in an initiative designed to boost quality by publicly grading nursing homes on the proportion of residents who have preventable problems and by providing some guidance from quality consultants.

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