Nursing homes or skilled nursing facilities are one of the last places most children want to put their elderly parents, but sometimes that is the only option that is available to you.  Nursing homes are for elderly people who have physical limitations, for younger people who have severe disabilities, or for people who were recently injured.  These people need a tremendous amount of constant personal care.  Nursing homes are required to have a licensed RN (nurse) on duty 24 hours a day.  There are also many staff members who assist in caring for your elder.  Many nursing homes do not have an adequate staffing to take great care of your elder.  In our area of the country, there tends to be a shortage of Certified Nursing Assistants in the nursing homes and you can typically find 1 staff member to a wing of the unit and be caring for as many as 20 people on their shift.  That’s a lot of diaper changes in one shift for one person.

I know that nursing homes can be a good thing for people, but I am very, very cautious about them.  My Dad had to be in one for a short time while he received some IV antibiotics.  I paid 3 people to stay with him 24/7 during his 4 day stay because of my impressions of nursing homes.  I wasn’t all wrong about my impressions.  The man in the bed next to my Dad was 93 years old and he was still walking, but needed help getting to the bathroom.  They came to get him maybe once in 12 hours and then would leave him on the pot for 1 hour.  Not kidding!!!

You have to be extremely vigilant if your elder is in a nursing home.  My friend had her Mom in a nursing home for 8 years and had great luck with that home.  She did visit her Mom almost EVERY day (except when she was out of town for business) and did a head to toe look over her body at every visit and paid close attention to her care.  Remember there are excellent nursing homes, you just have to find them in your area.

Nursing homes can be paid by Medicaid or by private pay.  DO YOUR HOMEWORK if you are looking to place your parent in a nursing home for an extended period of time or even for a short time.  There are many, many rules and regulations that must be followed to have your elder’s care paid for by Medicaid.