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10 Steps To Finding The Right Nursing Home

When it comes time to choose a nursing home for yourself or your loved one, you’ll want to create a checklist of things to do and questions to ask as you begin the search process.

Government agencies and health care organizations offer a variety of tips and resources to help you in your search.

1. Evaluate your needs. Check with your physician to list any specific health services that you will need to make sure the nursing home can accommodate those needs.

2. Get insight and advice. Talk with family, friends, neighbors and health care professionals who have been through a similar situation.

3. First things, first. The American Association of Retired Persons, AARP, suggest looking into non-profit nursing homes first. Recent studies have shown that overall, nonprofit nursing homes provide higher quality care, higher staffing ratios, and have fewer health violations than those run by for-profit companies.

4. Make two lists. On one, list the most important characteristics that you are looking for in a home. On the other, list the nursing homes that have these characteristics.

5. Do your homework. As you seek to narrow your list of nursing homes, check out the Nursing Home Compare feature at www.medicare.gov/nhcompare. There you will find all of the Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing homes in the country, including a recent listing for 29 in Volusia County. You can compare the quality of the nursing homes using the five-star quality ratings, health inspection results, nursing home staff data, and fire safety inspection results. You can also compare nursing homes by using HealthGrades.com's nursing home rating tool, which offers a detailed report on everything from cleanliness and diet to "dignity and respect of each resident" to how often patients typically get bedsores.

6. Your first visit. On your first visit, make an appointment to meet the administrator, the director of nursing, the dietitian, the activity director and any specialists. Decide in advance what questions to ask. During the visit, be observant and write down your observations as well as answers to your questions.

7. Buzz words. Ask the nursing homes you visit if they engage in “person-centered care,” and “consistent assignment,” suggests the Advancing Excellence Campaign, a coalition of government, industry and consumer groups working to improve nursing home quality. Person-centered care allows the patients more flexibility in setting their own schedules, while consistent assignment seeks to give the residents the same staff members on each shift to promote a continuity of care and deeper relationships.

8. Act like a resident. Plan to attend a few nursing home sponsored activities if you can. Ask to have lunch in the dining room. This way, you can sample the food. Talk to the residents, family members, and other visitors. Ask their opinions of the home.

9. Drop by. If the first visit goes well, make a second unannounced trip. Visit on the weekend, in the evening or at a different time of day than the first visit. The purpose of this visit is to observe a more normal working situation than a scheduled appointment.

10. Call your long-term care ombudsman. An advocate for nursing home patients, this person can help you find the latest health inspection reports and can also tell you how many complaints the office has collected about a specific nursing home and the nature of those complaints. Find Florida’s ombudsman at ombudsman.myflorida.com/index.php

For more on nursing home issues and safety, see our Nursing Home Injury articles by Daytona Beach Nursing Home Injury lawyer




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