People who live in nursing homes may require help with daily living activities such as getting out of bed, eating, bathing, dressing, and using the bathroom. Your loved one’s doctor, as well as other members of the healthcare team, family members, and close friends can help you judge whether nursing home care is best for your loved one. If possible, you also should include your loved one in these discussions.
To choose a good nursing home for your loved one, you need to focus on his or her needs and wants, take a good look at what facilities are available in your area, and let others with the right knowledge and experience help you get through the insurance questions and paperwork involved. Talk to your hospital’s case worker or your loved one’s health insurance representative to find out what nursing home facilities are available in your area. Read the facilities’ inspection report for the facilities, including ratings of health, safety, and quality of life. Tour each facility – preferably with your loved one or other family members. During your tour, keep an eye out for features that will make a nursing home safe and comfortable for them.
Therapy is offered up to 7 days a week or to what is clinically appropriate for each resident. It does also depend on the insurance plan they have and what their plan has approved. Usually for an HMO it would be 5 days a week. Our therapy department works with each individual to maximize their potential.
Admission to a nursing home does not always require a physician’s order, but the order is a condition of payment for Medicare or Medicaid. Families usually work with their doctor to decide the right time to admit a loved one to a nursing home. Several factors -- including age, diagnosis, medical history and abilities of the primary caregiver -- play a part in that decision. Other times, the patient is admitted to a nursing home following a hospital stay. Ultimately, though, the decision to enter a nursing home lies with the patient and the family.
Nursing homes have a Medical Director who works closely with the interdisciplinary team and your loved one to meet their medical needs. Care Plan meetings are also held to determine their needs. Your loved one and/or loved one’s family members are encouraged to attend and participate.
The best way to sort through your options during a healthcare crisis is to talk to those who understand what your loved one is going through. His or her doctor can help explain various options for her care. Additionally, admission counselors can help resolve medical and insurance issues.
Ask your loved one if he or she has completed any advance directives, which are documents that provide clear instructions about what medical care he or she wants (or doesn’t want). The most commonly recognized types of advance directives are the living will and the durable power of attorney for healthcare. If your loved one does not have any of these documents, talk to him or her about their wishes and the need to get them in writing. Be sure to discuss their wishes with other family members, and perhaps with important people outside the family such as a family friend, religious leader, or social worker.
Ask your loved one’s doctor or your local hospital about respite care. Respite care offers medical professionals on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You might be able to bring your loved one to a facility for a few hours or days, or a nurse or other medical professional could come to your house to give you a break.