Nice Paintings Ain't Gonna Take Care Of Your Loved One In A Nursing Home

When your loved one falls ill and ends up in a hospital, being discharged home is usually the expectation. Unfortunately though, even for people who are being discharged, home is not always a possible option. Much needed therapy programs, bathing assistance and preparing the proper food consistency are often more than could be provided at home. Close to the end of the hospital stay, a discharge planner may approach you to let you know that a discharge home will not be safe at this time - and that a stint in a rehab & nursing home is recommended. Before you could catch your breath at the news you're hearing, a paper is thrust into your hand listing the handful of nursing homes in your area and you are told to check some of them out and come back with your top two choices in the morning.

What are you to do? Where are you to turn?

Well, firstly, it’s strongly recommended that you tour at least three nursing homes in the desired geographical area to compare the pros and cons of each. Each nursing home will have different aspects that are critical in determining the most appropriate place for your loved one.

The truth is, everyone’s needs are different. Will you be coming to visit by car and need easy parking? Maybe you don't drive and need convenient access to public transportation? Those are things you will need to find out, but that's easy enough information to obtain. Then there are factors that are extremely important, but you could easily miss them if you do not know to look for it.

As the title implies, nice amenities, while certainly important (I don't mean to knock this at all), won't take care of your loved one's medical care in a nursing home. You may be wondering, what are some indicators of a quality nursing home and what specifically should you look for? The answer is it’s a loaded question and it depends on each individual's circumstance.

Below is a list of 20 things to look out for:

1. Are the nursing staff courteous, friendly and professional? These are the people who will be taking care of your loved one on a daily basis and their attitude and demeanor will be an indicator of the vibe of the nursing home and its leadership.

2. How are the aides speaking to the residents? Residents should be spoken to kindly, gently and with respect.

3. Could you hear yourself think as you tour - or is the nursing home overhead paging system going off so often and so loudly that you're getting a headache? Residents recover better in a calm and pleasant atmosphere than in a noisy and hectic one. It is understandable for there to be some level of noise in a medical facility, but the staff should not be yelling across the halls.

4. Is your sense of smell pushed to its limits as you tour? A few odors may be normal, but they should be the exception rather than the rule, and they should not be extreme without an obvious explanation for them (for example: someone just vomited).

5. Are the residents you pass in the corridors wearing hospital gowns that don’t cover them appropriately? They should be dressed as normally and respectfully as possible. Shoes/socks should match. Men should be shaved. Women should have their hair looking neat and nails should not be overly long or very dirty.

6. Is the administrator walking around and is he or she friendly? This shows leadership and responsibility for the nursing home.

7. Do the nurses’ aides open up the food packages for the residents at lunch time? This is so important for the residents that are incapable of opening their own food and is very often overlooked on a nursing home tour.

8. Is there a Doctor, PA, or Nurse Practitioner there daily? If not, how often does a medical provider come? This will obviously be critical in determining how fast your loved one will be tended to, if need be, and how easily a nurse can present a symptom to the medical provider - possibly preventing greater issues.

9. How long have the key leadership staff (Administrator, Director of Nursing, Medical Director) worked at the nursing home? This will give you an idea of employee turnover.

10. Are the activities/recreation appropriate for the residents?

11. Are the activities repetitive or are there a variety of activities offered? Are at least some of the activities somewhat creative? Check to see if there are postings on various bulletin boards that list the daily/weekly recreation schedule.

12. When observing the recreation/activities area, are heads down or are residents engaged and participating?

13. Do you notice between shifts whether there is unattended or understaffed downtime? Very often staff who are leaving will leave ten minutes early and staff who are incoming will arrive a few minutes late and there is uncovered downtime. The opposite should be true - there should be some overlap between the outgoing staff and incoming, both to allow for information transfer of anything important, as well as to prevent potentially dangerous under-staffing.

14. Are the nurses’ aides assigned rooms near each other or at opposite or distant ends of the hallways? If they have rooms far from each other, how will they be able to hear if a resident needs their help? You can even ask one of the nurses' aides how they are assigned.

15. When walking around, do you see unsupervised maintenance material? This is obviously very dangerous, but you will be surprised at how often that occurs.

16. Are the blankets, sheets and linen on the carts touching the ground? This will give you a sense for how sanitary the nursing home is.

17. When going to mealtime, are there unserved perishable foods sitting out and waiting to be served well ahead of mealtime?

18. When residents are being brought to therapy sessions, does the aide encourage him/her to walk as much as he/she can or are they mostly just wheeled straight in to therapy?

19. If applicable, when touring the therapy room, do the residents seem engaged and involved?

20. If possible, try to ask a resident privately if they are happy.

As you can see, there are many factors to consider and, while most may seem obvious, unless you knew to look for them you could easily miss many of them. And perhaps the bigger issue is that it's difficult to spot all of these items, and you often won’t be able to spend quite enough time at each nursing home to observe each scenario and get each question answered.

I hope this information is helpful - and just know there is always an option to tour nursing homes along with a healthcare advocate who can make sure to be your eyes and ears while on the tours, and to assist you in gathering all the necessary information for the best decision.

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