It is my experience the best nursing homes not only have the best nurses and aides, but they have plenty of them. Face it, the primary care givers are the front line, hands -on nurses. The nurse or aide who assists with dressing, hygiene, feeding, medication, bathing, therapy, assessment, treatment, wound care, and the list goes on and on and on…..
Unfortunately, many corporate-owned nursing homes place profits over people and are in a constant mode of “down-sizing” in order to reduce the number of nurses…thereby reducing operating expenses….thereby increasing profits! Unfortunately, it also means less care and sometimes no care.
How much nursing care is needed? A lot. The National Citizens Coalition for Nursing Home Reform (NCCNHR) believes that the “minimal level of staffing” should be 4.13 hours of available nursing time per resident per day.
The law requires all certified nursing homes to publish daily the number of residents at the facility, the number of care providers and actual hours worked per shift at the nursing home.
This information is critical!
Ask for it…study it…and make placement decisions based upon it!