How do I choose a nursing home for my loved one?
Jul 22, 2011
What’s the best way to choose a rehabilitation and skilled care center (nursing home) for your loved one? Visit all the nursing homes in the area. Tour each one. Think about the services that your loved one will need. Whether it’s physical, occupational or speech therapy, or another specialized service, it’s important that the staff members who guide your tours know what services your loved one needs and can assure you that they provide them.
You can try to determine the kind of care your loved one would receive at a particular center by looking at and possibly visiting with the current residents. Are they nicely groomed and dressed? Are they dressed in clothing appropriate to the time of day? Is their clothing clean and hair neatly styled? Look around the building. Is the lawn mowed and are the flower beds weeded? Is the building clean? Occasional odors are not uncommon in healthcare facilities, but there shouldn’t be lingering odors, and you shouldn’t be hit in the face with odors when you walk in the door. Lingering and pervasive odors can be a sign of poor care.
Ask about the activities program. Are there activities available all hours of the day, evenings, weekends and holidays? Are there activities that you think your loved one would enjoy?
Review the center’s survey history. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services contracts with each state to conduct onsite surveys that determine whether its nursing homes meet quality and performance standards. Ask to see the results of the last survey. Make a determination as to whether any citations they may have received were related to poor documentation or poor care. There is a difference. Each citation is given a scope and severity level. A scope and severity of G, H or I means that the center was cited for actual harm to a resident. A scope and severity of J, K or L means that there is a situation that has caused, or is likely to cause, serious injury, harm, impairment or death to a resident.
I recommend jotting down some notes about what you liked and disliked about each center. Choosing a nursing home is usually not an easy process, especially if there are many in the area. Instead of just relying on the feeling you get when you tour a center, taking note of the items I mentioned above should help make your decision easier.
By Mary Jo Ball, MSW
Manager, Resident Services
Contact Mary Jo using the form below.
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