CHOOSING
A NURSING HOME
One
of the most important decisions you
can make for an aging loved one or
spouse is selecting the right nursing
home for them. This decision is not
always easy given the many factors
that go into the decision—quality
of care, financial requirements, quality
of facilities, location, among others.
It is often an emotionally charged
decision that unfortunately, is all
too often made without taking the
proper amount of time to select the
right nursing home.
There
are many reputable nursing homes that
provide excellent nursing home care.
However, there are also many that
provide less than adequate care for
their residents. In fact, there are
well over 15,000 nursing homes currently
operating in this country. Certainly,
different individuals will have different
capabilities and needs that must be
matched with the right facility.
Perhaps
the best thing you can do is to fully
educate yourself on the potential
problems that can occur in a nursing
home. The following is a list of some
of the main criteria that will help
you eliminate certain nursing homes
and help you choose a nursing home
that is right for your loved ones.
One of the most effective ways to
get a good idea of what is out there,
quality, and price is to visit five
or six homes.
top
Quality
of Care
It is difficult to find a factor that
is more important than quality of
care. This should be of utmost importance
prior to placing a resident in a home
in order to minimize the risk of neglect
or elder care abuse. However, while
quality of care is extremely important,
there are high priced “boutique” nursing
homes that may be simply out of the
price range of the resident or their
family, or does not provide for specific
needs of a resident, or is too far
away for family to reasonably visit.
Walk
through the facility: Do your homework
to find nursing homes that fit certain
objective considerations—they are
affordable for the maximum period
of time a resident might stay there,
they have the necessary services or
special needs, and there is room.
Once you compile this list, visit
the nursing homes personally. During
a tour, make sure you see the entire
facility, not just the areas that
are open to walk ins. Watch the interaction
between staff and resident as you
walk through to get a sense of what
your loved one can expect. Pay attention
to whether any residents are restrained,
the quality of residents’ rooms, and
what sorts of activities and freedom
of movement is given to the residents.
Try to get a general sense of the
quality of care in order to use it
as a comparison to other facilities.
top
Record of Care: Every nursing home should be required
to have a record of their compliance
with state and federal regulations
and laws. This should include any
penalties for violations. To access
complaints against the nursing home
staff or nursing home itself, speak
with the local long term care ombudsman
programs, and the District Office
of Licensing and Certification.
Talk with friends and family members: Find out if
they know personally about which nursing
homes they think are good and which
are bad. This can save a lot of time
and effort because you are dealing
with someone who probably has had
first hand experience with the quality
of care given in a certain facility
(perhaps their loved ones are still
residents of the home). Other people
who can be invaluable in this process
include ombudsmen, physicians and
others familiar with the facility.
General
Feeling: Never underestimate your
own intuition. This isn’t to say do
not go by their record and the services
provided, but rather that you may
be able to eliminate a home because
it doesn’t give off a good feeling.
For example, if the administrator
and staff treat you poorly, you can
probably assume this is how they treat
their residents. If the visit is unpleasant,
you can imagine what living there
would be like.
top
Nursing
Home Staff
If
institutional abuse or neglect occurs
in a nursing home, it is overwhelmingly
at the hands of one of the staff members.
The following are tips to choosing
a nursing home with the right kind
of staff.
- Facility administration places an emphasis on treating each resident
(as well as their staff members)
with dignity and respect. They respect
the choices and wishes of their
residents.
- Nursing home provides their staff with comprehensive orientation
and training programs that develop
the right approach and methods for
dealing with the varied needs of
residents.
- Staff
members are allowed to come to the
administration to discuss how to
deal with facility or personal problems
with residents they may be having.
Residents can push staff into situations
that are ultimately dangerous for
them. Administrators provide the
appropriate counseling opportunities.
- If
personal problems do exist between
staff and resident, the home facilities
reassign the staff member.
- Administrators and staff have a pleasant and clean break room.
The proper equipment and supplies
exist for a safe, healthy nursing
home.
- A “no abuse” policy exists. This prevents any situation of escalating
abuse from occurring.
- Administrators and supervisors insist on reporting suspected abuse,
neglect or exploitation to the Department
of Human Services. They make this
policy clear to residents, staff,
and family members.
- Nursing home administration and staff know about and utilize the
Long-term Care Ombudsman Program
when appropriate.
Special
Needs of Resident
Knowing whether an older person in
your care has special needs is a very
important consideration. Much of this
information should be known by a personal
physician who would have recommended
such items as a ventilator or oxygen,
or would have been aware of any mental
deficiencies, aggressive behavior,
etc. There are many types of nursing
homes that provide different levels
of care and have differing admitting
requirements. Most, however, provide
both skilled and custodial care. Talk
with each nursing home to find out
if they have the staffing and facilities
to handle the specific needs of your
loved one.
Location
If a nursing home is too far away
from family and loved ones this may
take away from the health and protection
of your loved ones. Even if the nursing
home seems perfect, location must
be taken into consideration for the
emotional impact upon the resident.
Many studies have shown that residents
who have frequent visits by friends
and loved ones recover more quickly,
and tend to be happier and enjoy a
greater state of health than others.
This is not surprising given people’s
desire to be needed and wanted. In
addition, nursing home care is often
better when the staff knows that the
family and relatives often just “drop
by” for a visit. And finally, nursing
homes that are near family members
and friends allow them to keep an
eye on the relative health of the
resident and gives them better respond
time should an emergency occur.
Financing
a Nursing Home
There
are two basic types of nursing homes,
private pay and Medicare certified
facilities. Private pay is just like
it sounds, the individual themselves
pays for the entire bill. This is
often very difficult to do, especially
given the fact that older Americans
are living longer than ever before.
The average rate of private pay in
a state such as California is so high
that only a select few can afford
this scenario indefinitely. Private-pay
only facilities can and will evict
someone who converts to Medicare or
Medicaid. This is why it is advisable
to first look for a Medicare program,
at least to begin with.
Choosing
a Medicare certified facility means
that you are supplemented by the state
and federal government. In most states,
once a resident is admitted to one
of these nursing home, they cannot
be evicted because they switch from
private pay to Medicare or Medicaid.
Medicare and medicaid residents pays
less per day than the private pay
rate. However, the longer you can
pay the private rate, the more options
you will have when looking for a nursing
home.
CONTACT
US top
|
