Small nursing homes and independent facilities may provide better care
Two recent reports on the quality of care and quality of life for nursing home residents provide important information for families evaluating where their loved ones should live. To reduce the risk of nursing home neglect and improve the quality of life, the reports indicate that smaller nursing homes and not-for-profit facilities may be a better option.
>>INFORMATION: Nursing home injuries
The June 2007 Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, reports that residents who live at small-house nursing homes are generally more satisfied with their care and describe their quality of life better than those who live at larger nursing homes. The quality of life evaluation was determined by a measurement of meaningful activities, relationships, comfort, sense of security, self dignity, individuality, privacy and enjoyment of food.
Small nursing homes often have as few as 10 residents, with private bedrooms and bathrooms, shared home-style kitchens and common dining and recreational areas. They are staffed with nurses and provide regular access to the same professionals available at a traditional nursing home, such as physicians, social workers, diet experts, pharmacists and therapists. Nursing assistants are also provided for cooking, housekeeping, laundry and personal care.
The report found that the quality of care at small nursing homes was just as good as that provided in traditional nursing homes and the staff had a significantly higher level of job satisfaction and confidence in their ability to help the residents. The staff reported that their better knowledge of the residents improved the care they were able to render.
Last summer an analysis from Consumer Reports led to similar conclusions. The report indicated that not-for-profit nursing homes and independent nursing homes tend to provide better care than those run by companies which manage many facilities. The report analyzed state inspections for 16,000 nursing homes throughout the United States.
The nursing home lawyers at Saiontz & Kirk, P.A. review potential lawsuits for residents of homes nationwide who suffered injuries as a result of nursing home neglect and abuse. In most cases, serious injuries which could have been prevented are directly associated with the nursing home placing profits before the care of the patients.
The underlying cause of many nursing home injuries is often linked to understaffing, poor training, lack of supervision or poor equipment upkeep. When nurses are given too many residents without proper knowledge and resources, neglect and abuse can occur.
If you suspect that a loved one’s injury was caused by negligent care or abuse, request a free nursing home lawsuit evaluation.
2 Comments • Add Your Comments
Debbie says:
I am a nurse who worked in nursing homes for 15 years. While there are a VERY few good ones, most are not. Staffing shortage and large patient to caregiver ratios provide the perfect environment for the neglect and abuse of nursing home residents. I finally quit the last nursing home I was employed with because they had recently changed management, fired and excellent nurse manager who had been there 18 years, and was very outspoken about the needs of the staff and residents that were not being addressed.
So I decided to open my own Residential Care Home for the elderly, and hope to expand to 4 homes. Each home will have only 5 residents, with 2 caregivers in each home. I pay my caregivers above average for our area to ensure I can get the best and keep them in order to keep everything familiar to our residents. I can do this and still charge about half what the average nursing home charges.
We need to get the word out to more people that there is an alternative to nursing home placement!!!!
Posted on July 4, 2007 at 11:07 pm
Anthony Cirillo says:
Bravo for starting your own services. I think you make a great point about getting the word out. Even more, people need to understand what it is like to grow old and aging issues in general so that they can approach situations later in life not in crisis but with education.
Best,
Anthony Cirillo, FACHE, ABC
http://www.anthonyssong.com
http://www.4wardfast.com
Posted on July 6, 2007 at 10:00 am