Nursing Home Compare

 

Compare nursing homes in your area. Simply click on the county where you live. To search for nursing homes by city, state, zip code, or name, visit www.medicare.gov.

Questions? Call 1-800-MEDICARE. (1-800-633-4227)

 

Putting the "Home" in Nursing Home

 

Nursing Home Compare provides detailed information about the past performance of every Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing home in the country.

 

The State of Ohio Long-Term Care Consumer Guide also provides additional information on Ohio nursing homes including family and resident satisfaction scores, special care and community care services, affiliations, policies, number of beds and rates, and staff information.

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Putting the "Home" in Nursing Home

Improving daily life for nursing home residents through culture change

 

For years, nursing homes have been seen as institutions that, like hospitals, run on a tight schedule. Residents wake up, eat, exercise, and take their medications on a program that is strictly controlled by the nursing home staff. But recently, there have been movements within the nursing home community to change all of that.

 

There are significant differences between nursing homes and hospitals. A person does not plan to live out the remainder of his or her days in a hospital. A hospital rarely becomes a person's home. However, a nursing home can become a person's home, and does everyday.

 

Person or Resident-Centered Care

Nursing homes across the country are adopting new attitudes toward providing care to the residents who live there. They call this "person-centered" or "resident-centered" care. There are many schools of thought about how a nursing home can achieve "person-centered" care, including Action Pact , The Eden Alternative , Pioneer Network , and Wellspring .

 

But in each case, the nursing home takes a new approach toward caring for its residents. The staff, instead of deciding on a schedule for the resident on their own, involves the residents in decisions about when to get up, when/what they like to eat, and what they would like to do with their day.

 

These nursing homes also take steps to make the visible atmosphere more like home. These changes can be small, like minimizing or eliminating the central nurses station and adding elements like plants or animals. On the other hand, many nursing homes go so far as to create smaller communities, including both residents and staff members, who function as a smaller, supportive unit. With a consistent team of nurses, nursing assistants, and housekeepers assigned to a certain group of residents, each resident can rely on a personal support system.

 

In the ultimate model of person-centered care, the architecture of the nursing home also transforms from a long, halogen-lit hospital wing to smaller groups of rooms to form communities. Each community shares a living room for entertaining and a kitchen for the residents who live there to share.

 

Looking for a nursing home that provides person-centered care?

Ask these questions:

•  What does your nursing home do to make residents feel comfortable here?

•  Do you take a person's personal habits into consideration when you develop your care plans?

•  If it doesn't interfere with their care plans, do you allow your residents to make choices about:

    •  When they wake up, eat meals, bathe, or take medications?

    •  What they do with their day?

•  Do you have any house pets? And do you allow residents to have pets of their own?

•  Tell me about the relationships that your residents form with each other and your staff.

•  What types of programs or activities do you have that allow residents to feel like contributing members of society?

 

Aside from asking these questions, visit the nursing home, talk to the people there, and make your own judgments.

 

You may also learn more about the quality of care provided at the nursing home by visiting www.medicare.gov and clicking on "Compare nursing homes in your area." Or you may call 1-800-MEDICARE.

 

Related Links -

Compare nursing homes in your area

Medicare Web site

Action Pact

The Eden Alternative

Pioneer Network

Wellspring .