Choosing a Nursing Home
With people living longer lives and the traditional family structure disappearing, it is becoming more and more common for our elderly family members and friends to spend time, sometimes many years, in a nursing home. Given that nursing homes play such an important part in the lives of their residents, it is important to choose a good one. Before moving any family member or loved one into a nursing home, take the time to visit several in your area to see how they compare. When you visit, ask to be taken on a tour and use the following as a guide to determine which home you should choose.
Your Best Judgment
When you visit a nursing home, the first observations you make may be the most important. What do you see? Ask yourself: Is this a place I would like to live? If the nursing home is clean and well-kept, that is a good sign, while a dirty or untidy home may indicate the opposite. How does it smell? Is it brightly lit and inviting, or dark and depressing? Don't be afraid to rely on your instincts.
Official Reports
A second source of information comes from the reports filed with state authorities regarding the specific nursing home. Every year, the State of Texas inspects each nursing home and issues a survey report that contains all sorts of information regarding the nursing home's operation. The report specifically includes information about problems the state has found and steps the nursing home will take to correct these problems.
Although it will be unusual to find a nursing home that does not have a few problems documented on its annual survey, you should examine the kinds of problems that have been found. Serious violations, such as reports of abuse, should be a red flag, as should repeated violations of the same type or violations that take a long time to resolve.
There are also reports regarding complaints that have been filed with state authorities regarding the nursing home. These complaints are issued every time the state is called to investigate a specific complaint about a specific home. These reports can give you some idea of how the nursing home operates year-round, not just the week the state performs its inspection.
By law, a nursing home is required to make both the survey report and complaint reports available to you, and it must give you a place and an opportunity to review them if requested. Beware of nursing homes that seem unwilling to let you see these records.
Staffing Concerns
The third major consideration is the quantity and the quality of the nursing home staff. How many staff members does it have, and how skilled are they? By law, nursing homes in Texas are required to maintain a "sufficient" staff, a standard that can result in considerable variation in staffing levels from nursing home to nursing home. Another question to ask is about the staff's qualifications. How many of them are registered nurses, how many are certified nurse's aides, and how many of them are uncertified? Usually, the more and better trained the staff is, the better the nursing home.
Staff turnover is another consideration. Facilities that do not pay well or that offer an unpleasant working environment often suffer from high turnover rates, with staff coming and going all the time. Excessive turnover can result in the residents not receiving proper care, if only because the people who have finally learned what care the residents need have left.
Quality of Life
The last consideration is the quality of the resident's life, a consideration that often involves all of the issues discussed above. Is there enough staff to assist the residents with their needs, such as dressing and using the restroom? Does the nursing home sponsor varied social activities to keep its residents engaged and alert, or does it just turn on the TV every day? Is the food varied and nutritious, and do the residents have a choice in what they eat?
Choosing a nursing home is a very important decision, both for your older family member's well-being and for your peace of mind. Take the time to make sure that the choice is the right one.
IF YOU SUSPECT NURSING HOME ABUSE
If the resident is in serious or immediate danger:
DO NOT WAIT. Dial 911 to contact local law enforcement authorities.
For cases where the abuse or neglect does not present an immediate danger:
In Texas, the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services and the Department of Human Services both handle nursing home complaints. Contact PRS on its 24-hour hotline at (800) 252-5400 and DHS at (800) 458-9858.
If you need legal help:
You may also need an attorney to represent you or your loved one. If you suspect that a loved one is being abused or neglected in a nursing home, call us. We will help you investigate the matter and take the legal action necessary to protect your loved one and to recover any damages that the law allows. Street & Ragsdale has more in-depth information on Nursing Home Abuse here.
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