 | Larry Nanny is the Administrator at Lakewood Senior Living located off of Kellogg Drive on Seville St, between Tyler and Maize Rd. He has a degree in Health Administration, and has been a Nursing Home Administrator for three years. Larry is passionate about helping people. Prior to becoming an Administrator he was a teacher at Wichita Area Technical College where he taught Horticulture. Larry also has served in the Air National Guard and was stationed near Iraq during Desert Storm were he trained arriving troops in chemical weapons warfare. In his spare time Larry likes to spend time with his family, which includes his lovely wife, and their three dogs. Larry is a certified Personal Trainer and an avid fitness enthusiast. He enjoys playing and watching sports, including football, baseball and basketball. Feel free to contact Lakewood Senior Living for assistance if you need more information on our fall prevention program or long-term care, please call (316) 722-6916. |
Senior Living
2009-09-01 14:37:00
Choosing a nursing home
Question: What factors should one consider when choosing a nursing home?
Answer: Nursing facilities today are providing a wider range of services than ever before, from sub-acute care to rehabilitative care, to their more traditional role of long-term care for the chronically ill. Some people are admitted to a nursing home following a serious injury or accident for a short period of rehabilitative service and then are able to return home. In other cases, families seek nursing facility care when an elderly or disabled relative’s condition declines to the point that they can no longer safely care for that person at home.
Choosing a nursing home is a very difficult endeavor for most people. This usually comes at a time when a parent has had a debilitating injury or their long term illness has gotten to the point that they can not manage it in the home any longer. Here are a few tips to consider if you are ever burdened with this responsibility. The first thing to do is find out what nursing homes are in your area. You can get this information from your case manager at the hospital, Department of Aging, Area Agency on Aging, phone book and other senior resources. After you have this information you want to decide what location you may want. For example, if you live on the west side of Wichita and are not willing to drive to the east side to visit mom, you would probably pick west side facilities, to make it easier to visit her. After deciding on a general location that would be acceptable, you need to start gathering information about these homes. I would start with a phone call to the facilities to get information as to the services that they offer to ensure they will be able to meet mom’s medical needs. After getting this information I would narrow it down to about 3-5 homes to gather specific information and take tours.
You should start by checking annual survey results. Nursing homes get an annual survey once per year and have to meet standard requirements to maintain licenses. You can get information from the latest survey at cms.gov. Go to nursing home compare and search by individual home or by zip code. The next thing you should do is take a tour of the facilities you are interested in. You should take a tour during the day when the administrative staff is available, and I would also suggest going in unannounced on an evening or weekend to ensure the same care is provided when the supervision is not in the building. Here are some things to look for:
1) Are the staff friendly to residents and guests? 2) Do the residents look cared for? Are they clean? Are the men shaved? Are their teeth brushed and hair combed?
3) Talk to residents and other family members that may be in the facility during your visit to see how happy they are.
4) Ask about fall programs or skin programs that may be in place to prevent accidents and skin break down.
5) What does it smell like? Does the facility look clean?
6) Ask other residents how the food tastes. Eat a meal yourself, as most facilities will invite you to eat a meal if you are there during meal time.
7) Are there any activities going on? Look at the monthly activity schedule.
8) Talk to someone about rates. What are the costs? Does the facility accept Medicare or Medicaid? Ensure there are no hidden costs that show up on a bill 30 days after admission that you were not prepared for. Choosing the right place for mom is not an easy task. Most folks usually do not know where to start because it is not something we have to do every day. Hopefully some of these tips will get you started in the right direction. Ensuring that mom ends up in a place where she will be happy and receive quality care is a very important decision and should not be made without having adequate knowledge.
