Nursing home care is expensive; second only to acute hospital care for inpatient Medicare costs. The increased focus on costs of care accrued by Medicare beneficiaries in nursing homes presents a valuable opportunity for registered nurses (RNs) to further demonstrate quantitatively the value they add to the capacity of the nursing home nursing skill mix to provide cost-effective and efficient quality care. Most of the studies included in this review consistently reported that higher RN staffing and higher ratios of RNs in the nursing skill mix are related to better NH quality. Concerns about the costs of employing more highly skilled RNs and directors of nursing that have the potential to positively influence members of the nursing skill mix will continue to influence nursing home industry hiring practices. For both the advancement of nursing as an applied science and the benefit of society at large, nursing researchers are challenged to better demonstrate how the increased presence of a RN on each shift has the potential to enhance the cost effectiveness, efficiency, and quality of nursing homes
