If you have a loved one that will soon be moving to a nursing home, below are several tips to consider for selecting the best facility:
- The most important thing to consider is staffing. An ideal daytime staff-to-patient ratio is one to five. One should be a direct caregiver.
- If the facility smells like urine, it is a bad sign. If it smells of heave pine cleaner, you have to wonder what smells they are trying to hide. It is ideal for the facility to smell clean, but with no strong odor that is good or bad.
- The best time to visit a nursing home is 6pm on a Saturday. You will get a truer picture of what occurs at the facility because few managers or marketing people will be there.
- Consider the noise level. There are TVs, paging systems, people talking and other noises that can impact your family member’s ability to feel at peace.
- Be sure to visit during mealtime. You want to observe whether the patients are getting enough food or drink. Undernourishment can be a real problem in nursing homes.
- Ask to see the activity calendar. If your loved one is mobile, you want to see that there are activities for him or her to attend.
If you need the assistance of an elder law attorney, contact Maura Curran for sound advice and guidance you can trust.
