ATLANTA - The Department of Health and Human Services has found that nearly 90 percent of Georgia nursing homes violated federal standards for health and safety last year.

The state was on par with the national average of 92 percent of nursing homes that had violations. The report was issued by the Inspector General's Office and is based on the state's annual nursing home inspections.

Georgia has 375 licensed nursing homes with 40,649 beds. The state reduced its number of homes with violations from 95 percent to 88 percent, and was slightly below the national average for number of violations per home with 6.5 percent - compared to 7 percent nationally.

Among the problems cited at nursing homes are quality of care and quality of life issues, including bed sores, urinary tract infections, medication mistakes and housekeeping issues.