[Predictors of nursing service need for nursing homes residents]

The purposes of this study were to explore the functional status of elderly residents and to analyze time use, and finally identify factors to predict nursing care needs in relation to functional status and health related variables.

In this study a descriptive-correlational design was used. Functional status of participants was obtained through interviews, and nursing care time was examined using a 1 min time-motion study with a standardized instrument developed by Korea Long-Term Care Planning Committee (2005).

The mean total functional score was 65 (range 28-125) and mean total nursing care time was 144.15 min per day. There were significant positive relationships between total nursing care time, marital status, back pain, dementia, and vision impairment. Multiple regression analyses showed that a liner combination of number of illnesses, types of primary disease, ADL, IADL, cognitive function, nursing demand, and rehabilitation demand explained 42.8% of variance of total nursing time. ADL (beta=-.533) was the most significant predictor of nursing service need.

Identifying factors that result in variations of service need has implications for adequate nursing service, estimation of optimum nurse to patient ratio, quality of care and patient safety.