A nursing home is a state-licensed facility that may provide skilled nursing care, intermediate care, and/or custodial care. You may need to enter a nursing home on a short-term basis (for example, after a major illness or injury), or on a long-term basis (if you become physically or mentally incapacitated and cannot care for yourself). Although you may prefer in-home care, you may need to enter a nursing home if you require round-the-clock care, especially if you don’t have family to help you at home or if the services of an in-home caregiver are inadequate or unavailable.
Questions & Answers
Are private rooms available in nursing homes?
Private rooms are available at many nursing homes, but they cost extra. If you are paying for your own care, make sure that you find out how much more private rooms cost. If Medicaid will be paying for your nursing home care, however, you will not be entitled to a private room. When you choose a nursing home, find out whether private rooms are commonly available, and, just in case, ask about how the nursing home decides who will share a room. If you end up with a roommate and you are unhappy with him or her, will you be able to move to a different room? If the nursing home wants to transfer you to a different room or unit, what procedures will it follow?
Even seemingly good nursing homes have complaints lodged against them. Why?
Nursing homes are, for some people, difficult and lonely places to live, and complaints against even the good ones are common. So, how can you tell the difference between a complaint that is justified and one that is not? For one thing, ask the nursing home administrator to explain how the home resolves problems and resident complaints. Do many of the complaints center around one issue? If so, the nursing home may have a serious problem in this area. Trust your own instincts. Do the nursing home residents, in general, seem well cared for, or do you see signs that the home may be poorly managed or even abusive?
What’s the best way to resolve a complaint with a nursing home?
You’ll probably be satisfied with the nursing home you choose. However, if you do have complaints about the quality of care you receive or the environment, don’t remain silent. You can talk to the nursing home administrator, or, if you prefer, to the nursing home’s ombudsman, a trained volunteer who monitors nursing home care or other long-term care facilities. Each state also has at least one full-time state ombudsman, and some cities and counties have local ombudsmen. If you have a complaint about the quality of long-term care, you can contact the ombudsman through the nursing home or care facility, through the area agency on aging, (call the Eldercare Locator at (800) 677-1116 for help in locating your area agency on aging), or through your state’s department of aging.
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