Nursing Home Selection: Finding Reports, Reviews, & Other Helpful Information
Nursing home information may seem difficult to come by when you are trying to select the best one for your loved ones. However, the government will report nursing home reviews, which are available for you to use when making a selection. Greenville personal injury attorney Andy Arnold provides helpful information for selecting a nursing home to South Carolina residents.
Choosing the Right Nursing Home
When a thorough assessment of Grandma's medical needs, physical and mental functioning, the financial resources, the support and group and all of your options suggest that a nursing home is a necessity, then the hard part starts: What nursing home?
Not all nursing homes are created equal. Some are properly staffed with competent and caring nurses and nursing assistants. Many are warehouses designed to minimize expenditures of staffing to maximize the bottom line. Your job is to be able to tell the difference and find one that will take care of Grandma.
You need to evaluate the following factors:
1. Availability
This might sound obvious but nursing homes have a limited number of beds, and even less beds for Medicaid or Medicare patients. Current cutbacks in our State's Medicaid budget will not help matters. So, make sure you realize that availability is limited, and you might want to check out some waiting lists as soon as possible.
2. Location
This is critical. You want a nursing home close enough so that you can pop in often and at a moment's notice. You want a nursing home close to the maximum number of family and friends, so all can visit and visit often.
3. Staffing
Adequate nurse staffing is critical to the delivery of quality patient care. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organization's (JCAHO) Standards for Long-Term Care states "negative outcomes frequently result from inadequate number of staff." Staffing is so important that I would prefer a nursing home 20 or 30 miles further out for higher staffing levels.
[See detailed discussion on Staffing in Under-Staffing section in Chapter 3 of this guide.]
4. Inspection results
Nursing homes are required to be licensed, and are required to submit to annual inspections (actually the inspections occur anywhere from every 9 to 15 months). These inspections look at the quality of care, staffing, resident assessment, nutrition and dietary deficiencies, and record keeping. The average nursing home in this state has 7 deficiencies.
Inspections (latest inspection results are in the Appendix in the back of this book) will indicate what the specific deficiency was, the date of correction, the level of harm (scale 1 to 4) and the number of residents affected. Also, at www.medicare.gov, use "Nursing Home Care" to get even more up to date inspections. Finally, look at the last three inspections. What is the average number of deficiencies for that time period? Is there a trend?
Clearly, you want a nursing home that has no more than an average of 7 deficiencies over the last three years with low levels of harm that affected only a few or some residents. You would also like to see a trend toward improving care.
5. Call an Ombudsman
Ombudsmen are state sponsored advocates for the elderly who investigate allegations of abuse and/or neglect of the elderly. Ombudsmen are a very good source of information and are willing to discuss the latest inspection results with you as well as provide you with information about a nursing home's complaint history.
6. Ask Around
You would be surprised how many people know someone who knows someone who knows something helpful. Word of mouth can be the most reliable source of information about a nursing home. Pay attention to the paper for any reports about a particular nursing home or any lawsuits involving a local nursing home.
Also, local advocacy groups can be a great source of information. The Association for Protection of the Elderly in Lexington, SC is one I highly recommend.
Contact Our South Carolina Nursing Home Neglect Attorney
For more nursing home information, continue reading this guide (use links in right column to navigate), check out the government's nursing home report, and listen to reviews of nursing homes by friends and other connection. If you find us in the unfortunate situation of haven chosen the wrong long-term facility and suspect elder abuse, contact South Carolina nursing home neglect attorney Andy Arnold. The Law Office of W. Andrew Arnold in Greenville, SC offers free initial consultations for cases regarding nursing home abuse and neglect. Call 864-242-4800 today if you think your elder loved one is not getting the proper care.