Can anyone help with setting audit tools, please...

Disclaimer: I am not a QA nurse and have not worked in LTC. However, some of my background in business involved QA.

Tip: If your position is really that undefined, you need to think about what you need to justify when your position/salary is up for review. Find out who created the position and why. Define what outcomes or processes needs QA.

Use the Pareto principle (80-20 rule) to concentrate your efforts on the 20% of the issues that cause 80% of the deficiencies. An early step, of course, is determining which ones are the 20%.

Spend time with the MDS people, as they should have QA tools for charting/assessment.

Talk to your state surveyors (yes, really!); they'll have checklists and survey/statistical tools.

Take the free, short courses on healthcare process improvement at IHI.ORG (look for "open school").

Talk to your local college/university to get free help from the statistics or business administration department. Often there are seniors or grad students who need a place to practice real-life projects, and your site could be one.

As you've seen in other postings, there are some industry reference books on QA.

Good luck!