The public’s attention to nursing home staffing generally focuses on nurse staff, which makes sense because those are the individuals who are providing direct care to residents. However, non-care staff play an essential role in the quality and safety of a nursing home and the services provided to residents.

Unfortunately, too often, nursing homes lack sufficient numbers of non-nursing staff with the necessary competencies to ensure residents’ basic safety and access to essential care and services. The resources on this page aim to provide useful information for the public and policymakers about the crucial roles of key non-nursing staff and offer recommendations on identifying and addressing when there are inadequacies in fulfilling these roles.

The brief, All Staff Matter: The Vital Roles of Non-Nursing Staff in Nursing Home Quality and Safety, provides information and insights on the important responsibilities and duties of key non-nursing staff. The fact sheets provide user-friendly information on the relevant federal requirements for each position and recommendations for resident-centered advocacy. We recommend using them in conjunction with the staffing data posted on our website to evaluate the extent to which your nursing home, or those in your community or state, have sufficient non-nursing staff to meet the needs of their residents.

All Staff Matter

The Vital Roles of Non-Nursing Staff in Nursing Home Quality and Safety

The responsibilities of nursing home administrators have been defined in the federal code for over 30 years. Nursing home administrators have oversight and operational responsibilities including ensuring regulatory compliance with standards of care, supporting the rights of the nursing home residents, and maintaining financial accountability. Learn more…

Federal rules require that every nursing home has a medical director. Under the rules, they play a critical role in the care of residents in nursing homes. Unfortunately, low medical director staffing is the norm in U.S. nursing homes. Learn more…

Pharmacists play an important role in monitoring and overseeing the provision of medications to facility residents. To ensure that this occurs, nursing homes are required to “provide pharmaceutical services (including procedures that assure the accurate acquiring, receiving, dispensing, and administering of all drugs and biologicals) to meet the needs of each resident.” Learn more…

Nursing homes are required to provide, or obtain from an outside resource, rehabilitative services, including “physical therapy, speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, respiratory therapy, and rehabilitative services for a mental disorder and intellectual disability or services of a lesser intensity.” Learn more…

Activities are an essential part of everyone’s life, including that of nursing home residents. This is true for all residents, including those with dementia. Thus, the federal requirements are robust and explicit in respect to ensuring that all residents have activities that promote their physical, cognitive, and emotional well-being. Learn more…

Long-term care is a crucial and evolving part of today’s social services, driving by the aging population. As demands increase, issues like staffing, family involvement, quality of life, spirituality, end-of-life care, and medical management are becoming more prominent. Social work in long-term care focuses on assessment, treatment, rehabilitation, and supportive care. Learn more…