Nursing Home Planning

Planning On Entering A Nursing Home

Evaluating and finding the right nursing home for you or a loved one

When you are looking for a nursing home, it’s usually under the pressure of need for care or the looming discharge from a hospital or rehabilitation center. This makes things a little more difficult, and often important things are overlooked in the evaluation process. One of the most important things to keep in mind is the location of the nursing facility. Remember that when somebody is living in a nursing home, visits from family and friends are often the highlights of their days. Having those close to the resident coming in and building a relationship with the nursing home staff can also raise the level of care provided by the facility because of their being more in tune with the resident’s individual needs.

Another thing to think about doing before committing to any nursing home is to ask the facility to provide the names of family members of residents so you can ask them about the care provided in the facility and the staff’s responsiveness when the resident or relatives raise concerns.

Talk to the nursing home administrator or nursing staff about how care plans are developed for residents and how those working at the facility accommodate the desires and suggestions of loved ones. It’s important to know the way the folks running the nursing home keep things running. Also, speaking with them about the accreditation of the facility is important before committing to any stay, make sure to double check their claims through http://medicare.gov/NHCompare/home.asp as well.

Last, but not least, make sure to actually tour the facilities, regardless of time constraints. Even if everything else checks out and it seems like a good place for your or a loved it, have the person who would be staying there see how the actual facility and grounds makes them feel. Is the atmosphere something that they would be good with (hopefully enjoy) living in?

There is more that you should consider when evaluating the right nursing home, however, and for a more in-depth checklist head over to Elder Law Answers’ Nursing Home Checklist to see more things to consider.

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