Meeting Healthcare Necessities
The healthcare aspect of a nursing home is one of its essential factors. Here are the medical services that your chosen facility should offer.
Medical emergencies don’t limit themselves to banker’s hours. When choosing a nursing home for your loved one, it’s crucial to make sure that there is a licensed physician at the facility at all times. But how can you ensure this?
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When visiting a facility for the first time, talk to the administrators and staff members to ensure that around-the-clock is available. Also, ask to see the Resident’s Bill of Rights, which should spell out physician availability. You can reality-check a facility’s claims by consulting online review sites such as SeniorsApprove or HealthGrades.com.
It’s also important to make sure that a nursing home’s staff has all necessary health licenses. You can consult your state department of health’s website to do a background check on a given facility – the state of California, for example, maintains a Licensing and Certification Division webpage that allows consumers to gather facility information, including licensure and citations.
You’ll also want to make sure that the nursing home provides regular physical examinations and routine medical care for preventative maintenance. This includes dental exams, which were found in a 2005 Case Western University study to often prove problematic. However, the study, which surveyed executive directors of nursing homes, found that more than half of respondents were satisfied with the care their residents received.
The study also found that most facilities surveyed had a staff dentist who visited regularly, but that most patients went off-site to meet their dental-care needs. Of course, your loved one’s individual situation will dictate his or her dental requirements.
In Case of Emergency
It is especially important for nursing-home residents to have access to expedient care in the event of an emergency. The Florida Health Care Association provides a detailed overview of issues relating to emergency preparedness in long-term care facilities.
At the National Long Term Care Evacuation Transportation Summit hosted by the Florida Health Care Association in conjunction with the American Health Care Association in December 2008, there was a slate of key recommendations and findings. Among them:
- The National Disaster Management System must address long-term care evacuation transportation.
- Increased federal presence and ongoing commitment are necessary to improve emergency response.
- Nursing homes must be included as a priority for power restoration.
City-County Emergency Management has prepared a “Hospital and Nursing Home Preparedness” guide advising on everything from protection of patients during emergencies to handling a prolonged power outage. This guide offers a good look at what nursing homes are – or should be – doing to protect their residents in case of emergencies.
It’s also vital that the nursing home be within access of a full-service hospital. Make sure to ask administrators and staff about nearby facilities when visiting potential homes.
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Crucial Medical Equipment
A nursing home should also be prepared to deal with specialized medical needs on-site. Here are some of the most important pieces of medical equipment that a nursing home should have:
- Oxygen tanks
- Wheelchairs
- Hospital beds
- Transfer equipment
- Walkers and canes
- Blood pressure monitors
- Diagnostic equipment
- Protective wear such as gloves and aprons
- Stationary, stacking, and mobile commodes.
Make sure to inquire about your loved one’s specific needs.