When you are considering placing a family member in the care of a nursing home, finding a good facility can take some patience. Beginning with a list of nursing homes in your area can be a good start, but it can be a little more complicated than that. There are certain considerations you need to keep in mind when considering a certain facility.
A good place to start can be your local yellow pages. There should be a fairly complete list of local facilities with addresses and phone numbers. You probably then want to consult the local state agencies to determine if any local nursing homes have had any disciplinary actions against them; this doesn't necessarily mean that you need to mark that particular facility off your list of nursing homes, but it should raise a flag.
Things to Consider
For any nursing homes that you are considering, you want to tour each one. If you are seriously considering a facility, you probably want to visit it several times to get a good feel for the staff and how the residents are treated. If a home on your list of nursing homes had a mark against it already, once you tour the facility you should be able to either mark it off your list of nursing homes completely or you may decide to keep it on your list of nursing homes, especially if you feel the facility has really cleaned up its act.
There are state and national rankings of local nursing homes, and that may help contribute to your decision. It is always possible that a facility with a great ranking is one that you just don't like. If at all possible, you should make your own observations and not take the word of a state or national agency. After all, it is your relative who will be living there 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Ask yourself if you would want to spend every day in that facility possibly for the rest of your life.
Finding a list of nursing homes is easy. Deciding on which particular nursing home you will choose from that list of nursing homes is another matter. Touring the facilities and taking into consideration the overall reputation and input from official agencies can help narrow down your list of nursing homes. Whichever facility you decide on, make sure you are completely comfortable with your final decision. A clean, cheerful facility that has happy, healthy residents can be a hard place to find, but it is out there.
