Abstract

Background. MDS is a device which gathers information about the physical, functional and psychosocial condition of a ge­riatric patient. It is applied in all nursing care institutions in the USA. Clinically MDS is the basis for the structuring of the patient’s care-plan, whereas practically it is the basis for assessment of the quality of service provided. Information acquired by the use of MDS (so-called Quality Parameters – QP) prove to be an important criterion which determines patient’s choice of a nursing home. The aim of this paper is to present the practical application of MDS on the basis of data gathered among patients who require short- and long-term care.Material and methods. 3209 residents of 16 centers of rehabilitation and nursing care in the USA in the states of Washington, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Alabama were put under observation. The QP which influenced the planning of care provided for a patient and as a result the assessment of the quality of service provided were analyzed on the basis of MDS.Results. The obtained data indicate that in the nursery homes described the QP are usually more favorable than national average. It appears that out of the QP which show worse than average standard of services provided, those connected to main­taining activity of institution’s resident are especially noteworthy.Conclusion. The analysis of QP obtained provides: information which facilitate the choice of a nursery home, and the know­ledge of the quality of service provided there. Considering the amount of information MDS can be the basis for discussion with the institution’s management about specific aspects of care; it also facilitates preparing the program of enhancing the quality of care.

Key words:

quality of care, nursing and rehabilitation home, seniors