Qualities of a Good Nursing Facility: Checklist
At some point of time in
our lives, we will have to perform a task of selecting a good nursing facility
for ourselves or a loved one. You might have read and seen various incidents of
nursing home abuse in newspapers or on a television respectively.
Unfortunately, these incidents are true and have had occurred with the
residents. It is difficult to foresee such cases while making a decision. In such a situation, we can only take some
necessary precautions while making our selection and choose a safe and
comfortable nursing home for ourselves or our loved one.
As a matter of fact, the
facility you would choose for yourself or your dear ones will have a profound
impact on the overall health and quality of life. Also, the selection should
depend on the duration of time you would need to recover- whether it is for a
long term care or short term.
This can be a daunting
task for some, but should be performed without making compromises. In this
articles, we will provide you a checklist for nursing homes, designed
specifically to help you select the best possible option.
Qualities of a Good
Nursing Home
1. Conduct and Behaviour:
Conduct
a thorough background check and look for the testimonials of ex-residents to
know the conduct of staff members with patients. Also, make sure that you do a
random visit to the facility and check out yourself whether the residents are
treated with respect, irrespective of their mental and physical conditions. The
staff should be friendly, caring and understanding towards patients.
2. Recreational
Activities: Make
sure the nursing home you choose have a system of organizing a variety of
social, physical and educational activities that will help the patients to
interact with the outer world as well. You can go through the track record of
the company and see if they entertain any kind of community visit and planned
group activities for outside events. This is necessary to keep the residents
busy with the things they can do. Some reputed nursing facilities also organize
exercise sessions, games and dance classes on regular basis.
3. Food and Basic
Amenities: Well-balanced
and hygienically prepared food is a sign of a good facility. Also, it should be
served in a pleasant and environment. The staff members of the facility should
also take care of the nutritional intake of each patient, and report the physician if the resident is
facing any problem in eating. Also the special meals should be available for
those who have been prescribed with special meals due to health issues.
As far as amenities are
concerned, residents should be provided with basic facilities such as internet
access and salons. These services will give them a whole new experience of well being and
communication.
4. Environment and
Surroundings:
Nursing homes should make constant efforts to provide
homelike surrounding for the residents. Also, the surrounding should be clean
and well lit to avoid any accidents. Residents should be allowed to bring some
furnishings from home to put them in their room. Activities like gardening, periodic
visit to the salon or barber shop can help the residents feel more at home.