Hello Megan,
This is a really great research question, especially with how much staffing impacts resident care in long-term care. I come from an acute care background, and see the same with patient ratio, and lack of a sustainable number.
One question I have is whether you’re focusing just on licensed staff (RNs/RPNs) or also including PSWs, since the legislation mostly talks about direct care hours.
Another could be looking at how other provinces or countries that have set ratios compare in terms of outcomes if available.
From my own experience, when staffing is short, residents/patients do wait longer for care, safety risks go up, and quality of life I find can drop. Staff get burned out, which circles back and affects residents too. This is definitely a topic I see first hand almost every shift.