A review of factors influencing utilization of home and community-based long-term care: trends and implications to the nursing workforce.

Over the past several decades, home- and community-based services (HCBS) have played an increasingly important role in providing care to patients with complex health problems and functional impairments, and in enabling patients to remain independent in their own homes. This article identifies developments in U.S. health care policy during the past three decades that have led to increases in demand for and utilization of home- and community-based health care. We discuss the implications of these policy developments, societal trends, and the unique opportunities they present for the nursing workforce. Descriptive analyses of data from the 2008 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses (N = 28,402) reveal significant differences between nurses employed in HCBS and hospital settings, and provide little evidence that the nursing workforce has responded to the shifting needs for nursing resources in HCBS.