About PlainNursing

Our Mission

We believe families facing one of life's most difficult decisions — choosing a nursing home for a loved one — deserve access to clear, comprehensive quality data without having to navigate complex government databases. PlainNursing exists because the official CMS Nursing Home Compare system, while valuable, presents data in a format that can be overwhelming for non-specialists.

Our mission is to transform the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) nursing home quality data into an accessible, searchable resource that helps families, caregivers, social workers, healthcare researchers, and elder law professionals compare nursing facilities across the United States. Every facility profile on PlainNursing presents the same data that CMS publishes — we simply make it easier to find, read, and compare.

PlainNursing covers over 14,700 Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing homes across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and US territories. We present star ratings, inspection results, staffing levels, penalty histories, and quality measures exactly as published by CMS.

Our Data Sources

All data on PlainNursing comes from a single official source: the CMS Nursing Home Compare public dataset published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. This comprehensive dataset includes:

• Provider Information — Facility names, addresses, bed counts, ownership types, provider numbers, and whether the facility is part of a continuing care retirement community or located within a hospital.
• Five-Star Quality Ratings — CMS's composite rating system including overall rating, health inspection rating, staffing rating, and quality measure rating, each on a 1-to-5 star scale. Also includes separate long-stay and short-stay quality ratings.
• Staffing Data — Registered Nurse (RN), Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), and total nursing hours per resident day, derived from Payroll-Based Journal (PBJ) data submitted by facilities. Includes staff turnover rates.
• Health Inspection Deficiencies — Detailed findings from state health department surveys, including deficiency descriptions, scope and severity codes, correction status, and the inspection cycle in which each finding was recorded.
• Penalties and Enforcement Actions — Records of fines, payment denials, and other enforcement actions taken against facilities, including amounts and dates.
• Quality Measures — Clinical outcome metrics for both long-stay and short-stay residents, covering falls, pressure ulcers, urinary tract infections, medication errors, physical restraint use, and other indicators of care quality.

How We Process the Data

We download the full CMS Nursing Home Compare dataset — including provider information, star ratings, staffing metrics, health inspection results, penalty records, and quality measures — and join them into a unified facility profile keyed by the federal provider number.

Deficiency processing: Deficiency descriptions, scope codes, and severity levels are preserved exactly as published by CMS. We do not reclassify or reinterpret inspection findings. Each deficiency is linked to its source inspection cycle so users can see whether issues are recent or historical.

Staffing calculations: Staffing hours are reported per resident day using payroll-based journal data submitted by facilities to CMS. We display the CMS-calculated hours directly rather than computing our own staffing metrics.

State-level aggregation: State summary pages aggregate individual facility metrics to provide benchmarks for comparison — including average ratings, average staffing levels, total bed counts, and the percentage of facilities at the highest and lowest star ratings. Where CMS reports a rating as unavailable (for example, due to a recent change of ownership or too few survey cycles), we display it as such rather than estimating a score.

For detailed methodology on how CMS calculates the Five-Star ratings, see the CMS Five-Star Technical Users' Guide.

Data Currency

CMS updates the Nursing Home Compare dataset on a monthly cycle. Our database reflects the most recent download of the CMS data files. Star ratings are recalculated by CMS quarterly (typically in January, April, July, and October), while inspection and penalty data is updated on a rolling basis as state survey agencies submit findings.

Staffing data is derived from Payroll-Based Journal submissions and is updated quarterly by CMS. Users should note that facility conditions can change between CMS data updates — a recent survey or ownership change may not yet be reflected in our data. We aim to refresh our database within days of each CMS data release.

Editorial Independence

Content on PlainNursing is compiled by our editorial team. Raw data from CMS, HHS, CDC, FDA, and HRSA is transformed into readable profiles by our continuous editorial pipeline, validated against the source before publication. The PlainNursing editorial team, operating under Kiznis Studio, is responsible for editorial standards, methodology, and corrections.

We do not accept payment, sponsorship, or promoted placement from providers, hospitals, manufacturers, or any healthcare entity. Our only revenue source is contextual display advertising served by Google AdSense — advertisers do not influence which entities we cover or how we present data, and they do not receive preferential placement.

Limitations and Disclaimers

This site is for informational purposes only and does not provide medical or legal advice. Users should be aware of the following limitations:

• Star ratings are one factor among many: CMS Five-Star ratings provide a standardized comparison framework, but they cannot capture every aspect of a facility's quality of care. Ratings should be used alongside in-person visits, conversations with staff, and consultation with healthcare professionals.
• Data may lag facility changes: Ownership changes, staffing improvements, and corrective actions taken after the most recent survey may not yet be reflected in the data. A facility's current conditions may differ from what the data shows.
• Self-reported staffing data: Staffing hours come from facility-submitted payroll data. While CMS audits these submissions, the accuracy depends on facilities reporting correctly. Some staffing figures may include administrative nursing time.
• Inspection frequency varies: Federal law requires nursing homes to be surveyed at least every 15 months, but the interval varies by state and facility risk level. Some facilities may have more recent inspection data than others.
• Not affiliated with CMS or government: PlainNursing is not affiliated with CMS, the Department of Health and Human Services, or any government agency. We are an independent resource presenting publicly available data. Always verify critical information directly with the facility or at Medicare Care Compare.

Contact

For questions, corrections, or feedback about PlainNursing, reach out to us at hello@plainnursing.com. We welcome reports of data discrepancies, outdated facility information, or suggestions for improving how we present nursing home quality data.

If you represent a nursing facility and believe our data does not reflect recent improvements or corrections, please contact us with your federal provider number and the specific data points in question. We will verify against the latest CMS release and update accordingly.