Let me give you a dose of reality when it comes to nursing homes. You may be shocked by whats revealed here. Few people really understand much about nursing homes. You’ll have a much better understanding about how nursing homes work and the experience to expect after your loved one is admitted.
Truth #1: Some nursing homes provide better care than others.
Nursing homes, like people, have their own strengths, weaknesses and skill levels. While each nursing home offers the same basic services like nursing care, food service, activities, laundry and round the clock care some facilities will emphasize one type of care over another.
For example, some facilities cater to Alzheimer patients. Some offer on-site dialysis services. Others focus on rehabilitating stoke victims. If your loved one has special needs, find a facility that meets those needs. You get the most effective care that way.
Truth #2: Some people get better in a nursing home. Some can’t .
If your mom is in the nursing home rehabilitating from a broken hip, you can realistically expect her to return home once the hip mends. But if she also has Alzheimer’s disease, that same expectation may be unreal.
Alzheimer’s sufferers have a difficult time understanding a therapist’s instructions. If they can’t duplicate instructions they can’t participate in their rehab.
If they can’t participate in rehab, the hip will not heal enough for her to regain its use. If she unable to regain her ability to walk, it’s not because a shortcoming of the nursing home.
Truth #3: Mistakes happen.
Nursing homes are like every other business. Mistakes will happen. Don’t expect perfection. You’ll be disappointed. Even in the best-run nursing homes, errors are a fact of life.
Some will be minor like clothing getting lost or an aide being rude. Some can be serious like medication errors or inadequate hydration.
The key is how management responds. Nursing home
management wants to do a good job. The good ones
take full responsibility for the errors and take steps immediately to correct it so it doesn’t happen again.
Management wants nursing home care to go smoothly. When it does you are happier with the care, the home is more profitable and the facility stays full.
Truth #4: Nursing homes are expensive.
The average cost of nursing home care across the USA is $55,000 per year. Some areas cost more, some less. Like any other service business, nursing homes expect to get paid.
The average nursing home stay is 29 months. Few families have an extra $132,917 hanging around (the average cost of care over 29 months. Paying nursing home costs produces a major stress for spouses both spouses and their adult children.
Truth #5:Medicare pays very little toward nursing home care.
The maximum Medicare will pay is for 100 days, but that’s not guaranteed. Without long term care insurance in place, most families start out liquidating their savings, spending it down on
nursing home costs until they qualify for
Medicaid.
Medicaid is the only public program that pays nursing home costs. To qualify you must meet tight income and asset limits.
Truth #6: Ugly nursing homes can give great care.
Don’t judge the quality of care by the nursing home’s decor . We all have a tendency to prejudge a company’s quality of service by how new the
place looks.
While it’s nice to have pretty surroundings, it’s not what counts. What matter are the people inside. Find out how conscientious and dedicated the people are inside the facility and you’ll know the care quality you can expect.
Truth #7: People working in a nursing home want to do a good job.
Your attitude toward them directly impacts the quality of care. It also regulates your stress and anxiety level. People naturally respond better to those who treat them with respect and kindness. Think negatively towards the staff of the nursing home you select and you’ll get negative results.
Truth #8: To get better care, shift your thinking.
One way to improve the overall nursing home experience is to make a slight shift in how you view your role there. Look at yourself as the individual responsible for selecting and managing a team to provides the care for your loved one.
It’s your job to find, interview and hire the best staff to handle the job. By viewing yourself as an involved and caring manager of the care team, you’ll feel more at cause over the activities of the staff.
In return they will be more receptive to you. You’ll receive daily reports on your loved one’s condition and how they have fared through out the day. Because the staff knows you care, they will gladly give you a heads up on health and social issues they see.
You’ll be able to head off problems before they become serious. More importantly, you’ll be more satisfied with the level of care provided.
Truth #9: To get the best care, visit frequently.
The quality of care rises directly with the amount of family involvement. The more family and friends visit a nursing home and the more involved you are with nursing home activities the better you’ll understand how the nursing home functions.
The better you understand how a nursing home works, the easier it is for you to ensure your loved one gets quality care.
Watch the video related to nursing home
Almost everyone will deal with the possibility of putting a loved one in a nursing home. I have worked in the nursing home business for 44 years and I have seen the pain and suffering nursing home patients and their families deal with everyday. Nobody plans to live in a nursing home, but an accident or a health crisis can cause a nursing home admission. If you are 40 or older I urge you to make a physical retirement plan for yourself and your loved ones, so you will never have to live in a …
Help answer the question about nursing home
Can a nursing home or medicaid take a patients assets?We are planning to do a reverse mortgage for my grandfather? We've been told that if he were to go into a nursing home, the home and/or Medicaid can take his assets including any equity or property he has. This doesn't seem right. Can anyone help clarify?
About Author
Martin Sabel, has developed a toolkit called “How To Find The Right Nursing Home”. If you are worried about the safety and care of your loved one, this toolkit is a must. See for yourself at
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i live right across the street from this…it was amazing to watch…i know the info about it, message me
i live right across the street from this…it was amazing to watch…i know the info about it, message me
You have to be flexible…especially, in this type of economy!
Hospitals are not hiring at this time until the economy is improving and people are gaining back their health insurance. But if this is your choice…then good luck to you!
I really think this is wonderful of you…In the past I have worked at several Nursing Homes as a RN….Alot of the residents have depression, so its really hard to get them interested in anything….the thing is, don't give up on them…go and get them in their room and bring them to bingo…some are just very shy…good prizes are: plants for their rooms, lotions, soaps, shampoos anything that smells nice…go to the dollar store, they have alot of stuff that doesn't cost alot…the main thing is don't give up on them…one week they won't go and the next they are more than ready…God Bless you
Sweetie…you are a wonderful person for doing this….
Medicaid reimbursement RATES don't change.
However, if this is one corporation selling to another corporation, the new owner has to be approved to be a medicaid provider in order to get paid.
If there's no ownership change, and one stockholder just sold all their stock to another entity, then there's really no legal ownership change, and you don't need to do anything.
I'd check with a lawyer on this.
Yes, the patient is expected to pay for the nursing home, if he or she has the assets to do so. Many people transfer property and assets to avoid this issue.
The law has been that the transfer had to happen a year to a year and a half before the person entered the nursing home. However the recent Budget Reconcilliation Bill changes the ruling to a period to five years.
There is an article about it here: http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=128962
Some to lose Medicaid aid in paying for nursing home By DOUGLAS TURNER News Washington Bureau Chief 2/10/2006
"WASHINGTON – The days are over when Grandma or Grandpa could give their money to relatives, then, shortly thereafter, enter a nursing home with Medicaid picking up the tab. A bill President Bush signed this week requires a five-year wait for those wishing to employ this little-publicized but widely used practice. … While critics fear the new rules could hurt people of modest means, advocates say the changes will help erase the practice of wealthier seniors artificially impoverishing themselves so the government assumes their nursing home expenses."
click link for rest of the article – http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=128962
Nursing home is different from Assisted Living. You only need to meet legal requirements for ALF if you want to get state or insurance money. Many seniors will happily rent a room from you and pay you additional for meals, various assistance that is NOT nursing. It could range from driving them to the store once a week to daily bathing and personal services. It depends what you want to do and what they need and what your home is set up to offer. Just be clear before they move in and have some kind of written agreement as well as a plan for what happens when they need more than you can give. You can't just throw them out on the street if they suddenly have a stroke or something.
Unless your dad has a long term care policy…then he's going to have to liquidate his assets to pay for his care.
Government programs (Medicaid/Medicare) have a look back period. So you can't hide dad's assets by putting them in your name.
And that's they way it should be. When Medicaid/Medicare pay for your dad's care…that money is coming from all of us through our taxes. I don't pay taxes so you can have an inheritance and you don't pay them so I can inherit when my parents die.
Your dad worked his whole life to acquire his assets. It is now time for all his hard work and his assets to be used to make sure he gets the best care he can afford. And he will get much better care as a private pay patient than a medicaid/medicare patient.
By the time your dad passes…hopefully he has had a long, wonderful life. He has had love and great care and his assets have been used to make sure he had everything he needed.
That's my wish for my parents. That they have long wonderful health lives. And when the time comes, I'll make sure to liquidate their assets and make sure they have top notch care. If all goes right…..mom and dad will have been well cared for…well loved and the only thing I'll be left with are the great memories and lessons learned from my parents. It's not my parents job to leave me an inheritance. It's my job to make my own way…provide for myself and work hard…so that when I am old I will have the resources I need to get the care I need.
Good Luck with your Dad.
I've worked in either nursing homes or assisted living facilities for 20 years, and it's never been okay for staff to accept gifts from a resident or their family. I'd strongly suggest NOT giving a gift card — while the staff might take it gratefully (times are tough right now and you can hardly blame them), they are risking their job to do so. Accepting a gift that is intended for them only — cash, gift card, perfume, etc — is grounds for dismissal in EVERY place I've worked and every healthcare facility I've heard of. Fruit baskets, cookie trays, etc are often given, but I know one of the best "spreads" we got was from a family who brought in a bunch of really nice deli sandwich trays — enough for each shift to be able to enjoy.
Of course you can, Never sign all assets over to anyone.
I work in a nursing home (in Australia if you go on the waiting list for my home you could be offered a bed in one of their other homes in the area it can be up to a 2 year wait it depends on need of the person if they knock back a bed twice they will go back on the bottom of your list).
Ask your doctor,nurse & friends what the homes are like? would you put your parents there or if they are in one are they happy there?
You might want to talk to your parents about planing for it if the need arises. There are some very good nursing homes out there its just the few bad onesget the press!
Call around see if can get a tour of the home (also you could pop in when they dont expect you but do take a tour)!
some things to look/ask for
* How clean is it?
* Do they look happy there?
* How many to a room?
* Could husband and wife go in the same room?
* Try and see how the staff act with the residents!
* How much and what does that cover?
* Why should i pick this home?
* What actives do they offer (some will have an extra charge)
* Does it have a bus so they haave days out?
* Will they take them to appointments if you cant eg x-ray etc
* Do they take residents on hoildays (mine does)!
* Talk to staff & the people + their familys do the like there?
* Could they live there?
Most of all does it feel like a home not a nursing home?