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Study finds nursing homes unprepared for pandemic flu

Emergency Management Alert, July 29, 2008

If your hospital is counting on local nursing homes to take an overflow of patients in the event of a pandemic influenza, your plans may need re-thinking.

A study in the July 23 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that more than half of over 400 nursing homes surveyed in Nebraska and Michigan lack a pandemic plan for their own residents, and the majority of respondents indicated they would not have beds available to accept overflow patients from overwhelmed hospitals.
 
“If nursing homes are called upon to serve as alternative care centers for patients who can't be treated in overcrowded hospitals, the impact on the nursing homes could be vast. Nursing homes serve a vulnerable population prone to dire consequences from an emergency,” wrote lead author Philip W. Smith, M.D., professor and chief, Section of Infectious Diseases, University of Nebraska Medical Center, in a JAMA press release. “While most facilities felt that nursing homes were being counted on to take hospital overflow patients in a pandemic, in reality few homes would be able to do so.”

The study called for more communication between nursing homes and local health departments and hospitals to plan for pandemics. To learn more about the study "Preparedness for Pandemic Influenza in Nursing Homes: A 2-State Survey," click here.

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