Almost everyone is aware that when you're
looking for a good nursing home you want to take
a tour before making a decision about sending
someone you love there for care. Most savvy
consumers also know that the person giving you
the tour is probably responsible for either
marketing the facility or for finalizing
admissions. While these nursing home employees
may be well-intentioned, they do tend to paint
the best possible picture of their particular
facility.
There is an easy way to get some critical
information about the nursing home you're
considering that doesn't come from the sales
staff. Every nursing facility in the U.S. is
required to post this information. Not only are
they required to post the information, they are
required to post it in a place where you can
find it without asking. This means it must be
available and accessible in a public area, where
family members, residents, and even the public,
can find it and examine it.
What Nursing Home Information Must Be
Easily Accessible To Everyone?
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1. Results of the most recent federal or
state nursing home inspection survey.
Inspection surveys document the areas in which
the facility was found to have "deficiencies."
Deficiencies may include such easily-corrected
problems as a burned out bulb to serious
problems which could or have endangered
residents. Examples of serious deficiencies
might include failure to perform criminal
background checks on employees, multiple
medication errors, or poor medical care. In
general, the shorter the inspection survey the
better. The best survey will be only a few
sentences stating, in essence, "This facility
was found to be free of deficiencies on this
date."
2. The "Daily Staffing Ratio". All
nursing facilities must publicly post the number
of direct care staff they have on duty during
each shift. Direct care staff includes
registered nurses (RN), licensed practical
nurses (LPN or LVN) and nurse aids. If you know
the number of patients the nursing home can
accommodate, you can calculate the number of
caregivers relative to the number of patients in
this nursing home. Be aware that the number of
nurse aids is the most important number to most
patients. Nurse aids are the employees who
provide the majority of care to nursing home
residents. Registered nurses often have
primarily supervisory or administrative duties.
These nurses often provide little or no direct
patient care.
3. The name and contact information for all
state oversight agencies. This will include
the state licensing and survey agency, the state
adult protection agency, the local or regional
Medicaid fraud agency, and the state Ombudsman.
It is not easy for a nursing home to get a zero
or "few" deficiencies rating. Most nursing homes
will happily post these reports in a conspicuous
place. On the other hand, I have seen fatter and
less flattering survey reports filed in an
unlabeled black binder on the darkest shelf in
the unused library. If you have to ask for the
report, and it is not openly and obviously
available, read it thoroughly before you make a
nursing home placement decision. You have the
right to request time to read it on your own,
and to make notes if you wish, without the
supervision or company of the person giving you
the nursing home tour.
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