Nurse Wages and Nursing Home Financial Performance
2024

Nurse Wages and Nursing Home Financial Performance

Sample size: 80244 publication Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Lord Justin, Ghiasi Akbar, Gupta Shivani, Pradhan Rohit

Primary Institution: Louisiana State University Shreveport

Hypothesis

How do nurse wages impact the financial performance of nursing homes?

Conclusion

Higher nurse wages are associated with decreased operating margins in nursing homes.

Supporting Evidence

  • A 10% wage increase for registered nurses correlated with a 7.3% decrease in operating margins.
  • A 10% wage increase for licensed practical nurses correlated with a 9.6% decrease in operating margins.
  • A 10% wage increase for certified nursing assistants correlated with an 11.5% decrease in operating margins.
  • Positive operating margins were associated with for-profit status and larger facilities.
  • Higher occupancy rates positively impacted nursing home financial performance.

Takeaway

This study found that paying nurses more can lead to less money left over for nursing homes, which is important for keeping them running well.

Methodology

The study used secondary datasets and multivariate linear regression with two-way fixed effects to analyze data from U.S. nursing homes.

Participant Demographics

Included all U.S. nursing homes certified by CMS from 2017 to 2022.

Statistical Information

P-Value

<0.01

Statistical Significance

p<0.01

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1093/geroni/igae098.0535

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