Aug 24, 2012

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.

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