New NCHS Summary Data on Nursing Homes Available For Researchers and Policy-Makers

The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) announces the release of new summary data tables from the 2004 National Nursing Home Survey (NNHS). The tables are designed to be of use to both researchers and policy-makers.  The new data tables describe the characteristics of nursing home facilities in the United States including: ownership, number of beds, certification, staffing, management, programs and services, and employee vaccinations.   The data tables can be found at: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/about/major/nnhsd/Facilitytables.htm

The NNHS is a periodic survey providing data on nursing homes, nursing home residents, and their care.   The 2004 NNHS collected data about 13,600 residents in 1,174 nursing homes from a nationally representative sample.  A telephone survey of 3,017 nursing assistants from 582 nursing homes was conducted as a supplement to the NNHS, and was designed to obtain information on factors that may influence the direct care workforce shortage.  Summary data tables describing characteristics of nursing home residents and nursing assistants will be available shortly.  To receive updates on NNHS products and release dates, subscribe to the Long-Term Care Listserv  http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/about/major/ahcd/long_term_care_listserv.htm.

To conduct analyses using the 2004 NNHS public use data files, see http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nnhs.htm.

The NNHS is one of a family of surveys known collectively as the National Health Care Surveys. For more information on the long-term care, inpatient care, ambulatory surgery, and ambulatory medical care components of the National Health Care Surveys, please visit www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhcs.htm.