Nursing Home Handbook

Can I File a Lawsuit If My Parent Has Bed Sores?

Bed sores, also known as pressure ulcers, are a serious and painful medical condition that can develop when someone remains in one position for an extended period. Bed sores are most commonly found in elderly people or those with mobility issues who are confined to a bed or chair for long periods. Bed sores can be extremely painful, and they can lead to complications such as infections, sepsis, and even death.

If your parent or loved one has developed bed sores, it can be heartbreaking to witness their suffering. You may wonder if you can file a lawsuit to hold those responsible for your loved one’s condition accountable. In this article, we’ll explore the legal options available to you if your parent has bed sores.

Understanding Bed Sores

Bed sores are caused by prolonged pressure on the skin and underlying tissues. They typically occur in areas where the skin and tissues are in close contact with a bone, such as the hips, tailbone, heels, and elbows. When pressure is applied for an extended period, it can cause the blood flow to that area to decrease, which can lead to tissue damage and ultimately the formation of a bed sore.

Bed sores are classified in four stages, with each stage representing an increasingly severe degree of tissue damage:

Stage 1: The skin is red and may be painful, but the damage is limited to the outermost layer of skin.

Stage 2: The skin has been broken, and there may be a shallow crater or blister.

Stage 3: The sore has deepened, and there may be a large, open wound.

Stage 4: The sore has become very deep, exposing muscle, bone, or tendons.

In addition to the physical damage caused by bed sores, they can also have serious complications, such as infection, sepsis, and even death.

Causes of Bed Sores

Bed sores are caused by prolonged pressure on the skin and underlying tissues. However, they can be prevented by following a few simple steps, such as regularly repositioning the person, using supportive cushions or mattresses, and keeping the skin clean and dry.

Bed sores can develop in a variety of settings, including hospitals, nursing homes, and other long-term care facilities. They are most common in people who are confined to a bed or wheelchair, such as those with mobility issues or who are recovering from surgery or illness.

In many cases, bed sores are the result of neglect or substandard care. If your parent has developed bed sores, it is essential to investigate the underlying causes of the condition.

Legal Options for Filing a Lawsuit

If your parent has developed bed sores, you may be wondering if you have legal options for holding those responsible accountable. In general, there are two types of legal claims that you may be able to pursue: medical malpractice and nursing home abuse.

Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare provider, such as a doctor or nurse, fails to provide appropriate care to a patient, and that failure leads to injury or harm. If your parent developed bed sores while under the care of a healthcare provider, you may have grounds for a medical malpractice claim.

To pursue a medical malpractice claim, you will need to prove that the healthcare provider breached their duty of care to your parent. In other words, you will need to show that the healthcare provider failed to provide care that met the accepted standard of care for their profession. Additionally, you will need to demonstrate that the breach of care caused your parent’s bed sores and resulting harm.

Nursing Home Abuse

Nursing home abuse occurs when a staff member at a long-term care facility, such as a nursing home, causes harm to a resident. This harm can take many forms, including physical abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation. If your parent developed bed sores while living in a nursing home or other long-term care facility, you may have grounds for a nursing home abuse claim.

To pursue a nursing home abuse claim, you will need to demonstrate that the nursing home or its staff breached their duty of care to your parent. This breach can take many forms, including failure to provide adequate staffing, failure to provide appropriate medical care, and failure to prevent falls or other accidents. Additionally, you will need to show that the breach of care caused your parent’s bed sores and resulting harm.

Proving Negligence in a Lawsuit

Whether you pursue a medical malpractice claim or a nursing home abuse claim, you will need to prove that the defendant was negligent in their care of your parent. Negligence occurs when a person or organization fails to exercise reasonable care, resulting in harm to another person.

To prove negligence in a lawsuit, you will need to establish four elements:

Duty of Care

You will need to demonstrate that the defendant owed a duty of care to your parent. This means that the defendant had a legal obligation to provide your parent with a certain standard of care, such as providing regular repositioning to prevent bed sores.

Breach of Duty

You will need to show that the defendant breached their duty of care to your parent. This means that the defendant failed to provide care that met the accepted standard of care for their profession.

Causation

You will need to demonstrate that the defendant’s breach of duty caused your parent’s bed sores and resulting harm. This can be challenging, as bed sores can develop over an extended period and may have multiple contributing factors.

Damages

You will need to show that your parent suffered harm as a result of their bed sores, such as pain and suffering, medical expenses, and lost income.

Working with an Attorney

If you are considering filing a lawsuit related to your parent’s bed sores, it is essential to work with an experienced attorney who can guide you through the legal process. An attorney can help you gather evidence, navigate the court system, and negotiate a settlement or litigate your case in court.

When selecting an attorney, it is essential to choose someone with experience in medical malpractice or nursing home abuse cases. Look for an attorney with a track record of successful outcomes in cases similar to yours.

Conclusion

Bed sores are a painful and often preventable condition that can have serious complications. If your parent has developed bed sores, you may be wondering if you have legal options for holding those responsible accountable. Depending on the circumstances, you may be able to pursue a medical malpractice claim or a nursing home abuse claim.

To pursue a lawsuit related to bed sores, you will need to demonstrate that the defendant was negligent in their care of your parent. This can be challenging, but with the help of an experienced attorney, you can work to hold those responsible accountable for their actions.

If you suspect that your parent has developed bed sores due to neglect or substandard care, it is essential to act quickly to protect their health and well-being. Speak to a healthcare provider and contact an attorney to discuss your legal options. With the right approach, you can work to ensure that your parent receives the care and compensation they deserve.

Athens Convalescent Center Inc

Contact Information

Name: Athens Convalescent Center Inc
Phone Number: (256) 232-1620
Provider Number: 15016

Address:
Athens Convalescent Center Inc
611 West Market Street
Athens AL, 35611

Nursing Home Details

Special Focus Facility? No
Continuing Care Retirement Community? No

Program Participation: Medicare and Medicaid
Resident and Family Councils: Both

Star Ratings

Health Inspections: ★ ★ ★
Nurse Staffing: ★ ★ ★ ★
Quality Measures: ★ ★ ★ ★

RN Only: ★ ★
Overall: ★ ★ ★ ★

Nursing Home Ownership Details

Type of Ownership: For profit – Corporation
Multi Nursing Home Ownership? No

Located Within a Hospital? No

Inspections and Surveys

Health Survey Date: 12/14/10
Quality Indicator Survey? No

Fire Survey Date: 12/14/10
Sprinkler Status: fully sprinklered

Nurse and Staff Statistics

# of Residents: 136
# of RN Hours Per Resident Per Day: 0.41
# of LPN/LVN Hours Per Resident Per Day: 1.15

# of CNA Hours Per Resident Per Day: 3.13
Total # of Licensed Staff Hours Per Resident Per Day: 1.56

Complaints and Incidents

Incidents Reported by the Nursing Home: 2
Substantiated Complaints: C

Enforcement Actions

Civil Money Penalty Count: 0
Denial of Payment for New admission Count: 0
Total Enforcement Actions Count: 0

Resident Statistics

Number of Certified Beds: 149
Percent of Occupied Beds: 91
Total Number of Residents: 136

High-Risk Long-Stay Residents

Condition	Q1	Q3
Percent of high-risk long-stay residents who have pressure sores	6	7

Long-Stay Residents

Condition	Q1	Q3
Percent of long-stay residents given influenza vaccination during the flu season	99	98
Percent of long-stay residents who are more depressed or anxious	12	10
Percent of long-stay residents who had a urinary tract infection	11	12
Percent of long-stay residents who have moderate to severe pain	2	2
Percent of long-stay residents who have/had a catheter inserted and left in their bladder	6	7
Percent of long-stay residents who lose too much weight	16	16
Percent of long-stay residents who spend most of their time in bed or in a chair	12	11
Percent of long-stay residents who were assessed and given pneumococcal vaccination	99	100
Percent of long-stay residents who were physically restrained	1	2
Percent of long-stay residents whose ability to move about in and around their room got worse	5	7
Percent of long-stay residents whose need for help with daily activities has increased	7	7

Low-Risk Long-Stay Residents

Condition	Q1	Q3
Percent of low-risk long-stay residents who have pressure sores	0	1
Percent of low-risk long-stay residents who lose control of their bowels or bladder	52	54

Short-Stay Residents

Condition	Q1	Q3
Percent of short-stay residents given influenza vaccination during the flu season	100	98
Percent of short-stay residents who had moderate to severe pain	7	8
Percent of short-stay residents who have delirium	1	1
Percent of short-stay residents who have pressure sores	7	5
Percent of short-stay residents who were assessed and given pneumococcal vaccination	96	96

Elderly and Others Hit Hard by the Government Shutdown in Minnesota

“The two week long stand still of the Minnesota government is wrecking havoc in both the private and public sectors. Hardest hit of the thousands of businesses effected could be the state’s nursing home and elderly population. Elderly people are now getting notice that nursing home workers could be deemed nonessential which could cause the closure of state funding nursing homes. The elderly are being told that if the shutdown is extended, they could lose their health care benefits. Some 2 million government jobs could be at stake in the wake of the shutdown, including jobs at nursing homes that house the elderly. If the doors of nursing homes close, other nursing homes and hospitals may become over crowded, or there may be no where to go for certain seniors who will be at a complete loss without their health care benefits.

Many nurses and RNs are set to get their walking papers. Notice of lay-offs will be sent out mid-June to registered nurses. Nearly 800 hospital nurses are expecting to be sent the lay-off notices this month. A shortage of nurses, and the inability of new nurses to obtain their licenses could cause a health care crisis in the state.

A hot line for the elderly that assists them in any type of emergency or non emergency situation is now out of order. Simple staples that people have come to rely upon are no longer being manned by state employees and all nonessential workers of the state government are now wondering how they will support their own families.

The $5 billion deficit the state faces is the culprit that has caused the major shutdown. Lawmakers are at a standstill at how best to appropriate funding and taxes in order to correct the current budget pitfalls. This problem is effecting millions of people in Minnesota from the elderly, to businesses, to the state funded parks and everywhere in between. The problem is likely to grow if some kind of resolve is not reached between the current governor and the legislature. If the state continues it’s downward spiral, many more services will be termed non-essential and people will be at a loss in just about every corner of the state.”

Additional information at:

MN Shutdown Pain Likely Greatest At Nursing Homes

Minnesota braces for a government shutdown

Minnesota government shutdown looms

Minnesota Government Shutdown: Summary of Judge Gearin’s June 29 Order

Nursing Home Costs: How to Pay

Nursing homes provide intensive, 24/7 skilled nursing care and medical support. Those costs add up quickly, right? Few people have a limitless pot of gold at their disposal, so how might you best prepare to pay for nursing home expenses, whether it’s for your own care or the care of your loved ones?

Expected Costs

Before you begin planning a strategy for paying for nursing home services, you first need to know about how much these services might cost and for how long you might need to support cost of care.

Monthly nursing home costs can run anywhere from a few thousand dollars a month to many thousands. Geographic location, cost of living, level of care needed, and nursing home quality all figure prominently in the bottom line.

Facts:

The average nursing home will cost $67,000 per year, give or take.*

Most people stay an average 2.5 years in a nursing home.**

Payment Options

Consider the possible options for paying the nursing home bill. Here are the most common solutions people assume they have available to them. Unfortunately, unless you’ve planned ahead, few of these are going to offer the magic bullet:

Long-term care insurance, provided you have taken out a policy, early enough, can certainly help. Consider it well before long-term care or nursing home expenses are needed. You’ll see the ads on late night TV. Problem is most people don’t plan for this type of personal insurance plan since the best strategy is to take out coverage well before you need this type of “later life” or elder care. Learn everything you can about long-term care plans before you purchase.
Veteran’s benefits apply if the patient is a veteran. State VA benefits are complicated by many eligibility requirements including income, disability or medical condition, and other factors, so contact your state Veteran’s Administration directly. However, it’s fair to consider the fact that even if you are eligible for some VA money, it may still not cover all the monthly cost for a nursing home–considering that most nursing homes cost an average of $5,580 per month (based on the annual figure above). VA nursing homes and long term care facilities exist, but again, have stiff eligibility requirements you must consider well in advance.
Medicare. One of the biggest mistakes made in planning for long-term care is the assumption that Medicare will cover these costs. To qualify for Medicare coverage you need to come to a nursing home directly from a hospital stay and coverage is limited. Visit Medicare.gov to learn more.
Medicaid coverage is available to people with outstanding financial problems and low income. In some of these cases here is a viable solution for helping pay the nursing home bill. But these funds may be very limited, affecting your ability to choose a quality nursing home.
Personal funds are one of the most common ways in which people pay their nursing home bills. This is why many patients lose their homes and livelihoods—to pay for costs for care.

Best advice: Consult a lawyer specialized in long-term nursing home care. He or she can help advise you on your legal rights as well as give you financial guidance and advice. There may also be valuable tax tips that can help you recoup some of your care expenses.

* USAToday.com, Fewer Seniors Live in Nursing Homes, http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/census/2007-09-27-nursing-homes_N.htm

** U.S. Census Bureau, Top Ten Considerations When Purchasing Long Term Care Insurance, http://www.census.gov/hrd/www/benefits/topten.html

Assisted Living vs. Nursing Homes: What’s the Difference?

Not long ago seniors and the elderly, if unable to remain living at home, would have to “retire” to a nursing home. Everyone from the very vital and alert to the very infirm or ill might be living in close quarters. In recent years, nursing homes in general have earned a bad reputation. Many—not all– have struggled financially and made poor hiring decisions.

As Americans live longer and more vital lives, the need for alternative living situations has grown. Assisted living residences and communities are one very popular alternative to nursing homes. What features make them so different?

Chronic vs. Long-Term “Assisted” Care

People with chronic and serious health conditions, confined to bed, and requiring intensive nursing care may receive this care in a nursing home. Assisted living serves the needs of people with health and living challenges, but nothing chronic or intensive. For example, they may have early stage Alzheimer’s, or need help monitoring their medication and health care, help preparing meals, transportation to the grocery story, among other things. This is sometimes called, long-term assisted care.

Nursing homes support intensive, round-the-clock nursing care. Assisted living provides nursing care, but it is non-intensive and typically not round-the-clock. This is not say that residents in an assisted living community are not supported 24/7…many of these establishments have built-in monitoring systems where residents can call for emergency help and assistance as soon as it’s needed and onsite nurses and emergency response personnel will respond.

Assisted Living Lifestyle: Independent Senior Living

Assisted living environments have become popular and sensible alternatives to nursing homes and now enable millions of older Americans to continue semi-independent living within a supervised community. Some assisted living communities allow residents to live in their own “homes” or apartments, drive and come and go at their leisure, and otherwise conduct their lives as normally as possible.

Assisted living communities usually have a wide variety of services and activities available to residents, including:

Community dining/meal options
Onsite health clinics where outside doctors and specialists regularly see patients
24/7 monitoring
Housekeeping/maid services
Transportation options on and offsite
Events planning
Exercise and wellness programs
Clubs and community groups
Community gatherings
Family support services

To make an assisted living community “tick,” most employ a wide range of professionals: nursing administrators, nurse practitioners, accountants and business executives, exercise and wellness specialists, physical and occupational therapists, chefs, nutritionists, and groundskeepers.

Nursing Homes Improve

We’ve seen the videos on the evening news showcasing nursing home employees abusing and ignoring patients. We’ve heard the financial bad news that many nursing homes are going bankrupt. Yes, many are struggling to find a place in today’s health care environment. But it’s important to remember that not all are bad places to put loved ones and many are carving out new niches for themselves.

One improvement many are turning to is renovating and adding additional services. Physical therapy and occupational therapy services are adding big value to nursing homes. Services like these serve to rehabilitate patients, with the ultimate goal to move them out of nursing homes, quicker. In the end, facility expenses are lowered while patient satisfaction and quality of life is heightened.

Consider Assisted Living as an Alternative to Nursing Homes

Assisted living care facilities are meant for the adults who need assistance and attendance of another person in doing their day-to-day activities, such as bathing, dressing, grooming, eating, getting around, and using the toilet. The adult may need a skilled nursing home facility if regular and continuous medical care, insulin shots, intravenous therapies or advanced care for memory loss are required. An assisted living facility may be the perfect choice for the disabled and fragile elderly people who are not under round the clock medical management and do not have any other major medical problems.

Assisted living facilities are typically residential care settings that are capable of providing assistance and care to those who are suffering from physical or mental decline due to their age, injury, or medical condition. The residents of the assisted facilities are mostly elderly people, but there are certain facilities that take care of younger individuals with disabilities. Some of these facilities also admit patients who require assisted care for a short period of time after a surgery.

If you or your dear one require more personal assistance and care than you are getting now, it is better to move to an assisted living care facility. These facilities usually have home like environment while a skilled nursing care home is more like a hospital. The assisted care facilities also allow considerable freedom and privacy to the inmates. The apartments usually have a kitchenette and you can cook your own food. Generally, these facilities have trained staff to help residents with their daily activities, including bathing, toileting, and dressing, eating, and moving about. They will also administer and supervise the daily medication intake of the residents.

The services provided by most assisted living facilities include meals, housekeeping services, laundry services, transpiration facilities, and round the clock security. They are equipped with emergency alert systems and provide continuous supervision. Several assisted facilities also offer a wide range of health, recreational, and exercise facilities. However, the major advantage of living in an assisted facility is that it provides a wonderful opportunity to interact with other people of same age group.

Each assisted living facility resident may require different type of care, depending on their physical and mental condition. Most facilities work with their residents and families to develop personalized plan of care to meet the unique needs and requirements of their residents. The assisted care facilities offer an excellent living option for elderly people who require assistance with their day-to-day activities. These are also typically less expensive than the nursing homes. However, it should be noted that Medicare generally does not cover the costs of assisted care facilities.

For more information, click here: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/assistedliving.html

Why You Need To Do Research and Compare Nursing Homes

If you are considering a nursing home for yourself or an old family member, it is essential to compare nursing homes in order to find the one that would provide you with the best quality of life and care and other services that you need. The nursing homes are mainly intended for those who need long-term nursing care due to age, chronic medical conditions, disabilities, or serious injuries. There are different types of nursing homes, such as skilled nursing, assisted living, independent living, adult day care, respite care, and hospice care. The Skilled Nursing Homes provide assistance and care 24 hours a day and are mostly for those who are seriously ill and require round the clock medical supervision.

The Assisted Living Facilities are for the people who require assistance with their day-to-day activities. These nursing homes offer many services, including medical care, cooked meals, housekeeping, and laundry services. Independent Living Nursing Homes is a perfect choice for an elderly person, who has certain medical problems, but has the ability to perform daily living tasks. The adult day care centers offer recreational and health facilities to physically or mentally challenged adults during the day. The respite care homes provide short-term care for some days or weeks. The Hospice Care Facilities are for those patients who are terminally ill. Compare nursing homes in your locality to decide which type of nursing home is ideal for you or your dear one.

When you compare nursing homes, the foremost importance should be given to the quality of life and care they provide. The US Department of Health and Human Service Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has initiated a Five Star Quality Rating System to enable elderly persons and their families to compare different nursing homes. The nursing homes with five stars are regarded to have above average quality facilities. You can also compare nursing homes with the help of health inspection data, staffing details, quality measures, and the results of fire safety inspections.

Another method to compare nursing homes is to visit websites like www .medicare .gov, www .medicare .gov or NHCompare and collect the details of nursing homes you are considering. Seek recommendations from your physician, friends, family members, and other people you trust. If you or the person who needs nursing home care is in a medical institution, then the discharge planner or the social worker can help you to get a list of nursing homes in your areas. If you can, visit the nursing home and see the facilities for yourself. It is also advised to make contact with Long-Term Care Ombudsman and State Survey Agency before taking the final decision on nursing homes.

Learn more, click here: http://www.medicare.gov/NHCompare/Include/DataSection/Questions/SearchCriteriaNEW.asp?version=default&browser=Firefox|3.6|WinXP&language=English&defaultstatus=0&pagelist=Home&CookiesEnabledStatus=True

Important Things to Look For When Searching For a Nursing Home

Nursing home – the best option for old, disabled and senile people who need constant attention and have significant difficulty managing on their own. Here, such people will be under the supervision of professionals who will monitor them and know how exactly to respond to situations. This level of care and attention might not be possible if such people are left in the care of relatives and children and they are often neglected. So a nursing home is a good solution that will augur well for the well-being of the person.

The lifestyle of the inmates is a routine that is designed based on scientific study and the expert opinion of qualified doctors and physiotherapists. Unlike the outside world, the inmates here are under constant supervision and are thus prevented from indulging in harmful activities like smoking and excessive drinking. Besides, a nursing home will offer a better shot at social life for the disabled and old. In the outside world, such people often find it difficult to adjust as a direct consequence of their disability or whatever condition they have and this prevents them from having normal interaction with people. Loneliness and isolation is a major issue, even for normal people.

If you have a relative you think needs to join a nursing home, then make sure you pick out a good one based on certain things you have to watch out for. Price is one of them. Remember that the costliest one is not necessarily the best one. Observe the place and make sure it has acceptable standards of cleanliness and hygiene. It should not be too crowded and noisy. And does the home have the required medical facilities, adequate beds? And are the beds big and comfortable enough and not too many cramped in one room? And do not forget to check out the toilet facilities.

Who is running the place? Are there enough staff available at hand? Are there enough doctors and nurses to attend to the inmates? What is the staff to inmate ratio? And are they qualified? Does the nursing home look well-maintained or is it shabby and neglected? If the person is suffering from a specific disability, then is there a specialist to attend to that? Apart from the above, also look at the general layout of the place to help you decide whether it is good. Finding a well-maintained place might cost you but it is a price worth paying.

Summary: A nursing home will be the ideal haven for a person who needs constant medical supervision. But the nursing home you pick must have all the requisite facilities and infrastructure.

Additional resource links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nursing_home

How A Nursing Home Attorney Can Help In Cases Of Nursing Home Abuse, Neglect And Injury

Hiring a nursing home attorney can be one of the smartest decisions that you will ever make, especially if you are going to file a lawsuit related to elder abuse and elder neglect. Such lawsuits can consume a lot of time and are very upsetting and of course they will put you through severe stress and emotional upheaval that you can well do without. It is better to entrust the lawsuit in the capable hands of someone that is qualified and expert in handling the case. A nursing home attorney is certainly the right person for this job.

If there is a case of nursing home abuse or neglect that affects a near and dear one, you will want to punish the guilty. Of course, you should already have taken measures to ensure that your near and dear one that is committed to a nursing home is not neglected or abused. However, there is no guaranteeing that a nursing home will provide the right kind of care and in fact chances of neglect and abuse on the part of the staff of the nursing home is always there.

Even if you choose the costliest nursing home there is still no guarantee that the staff there will take proper care of the patient. The best way out is to do your homework and you should check nursing home ratings to find out which facilities are the safes and best. If a facility has never had a lawsuit filed against them, there is hope that such a facility is safe for a patient.

In spite of your best efforts, there is still a chance that the patient at the facility will be abused or neglected. The good news is that by hiring the best nursing home attorney it is possible to take legal action and get compensation and justice as well.

When hiring such attorneys, it is important to understand that their fee is not the only criteria to judge them. When you hire the right attorney, there is a good chance that such person can bring out the problems with the facility that will then force the concerned facility to take remedial action. This is the best way of protecting the welfare of patients.

In fact, when the attorney finds out what the problems with the nursing home are and then highlights these in such a manner that ensures that the facility takes steps to ensure that the problem does not occur again, they will be performing a great service. It will also make you feel more confident that you have done the right thing by hiring the lawyer.

A good nursing home attorney will help you get compensation from the party that is at fault. In addition, the lawyer can also help you address the problems of medical bills as well as any other problem that developed on account of the neglect or abuse on part of the facility. This will give you peace of mind and it will also help ensure that get justice.

There is in fact no better person to handle cases of neglect and abuse than a good nursing home attorney. It is therefore a good idea to pick them with care.

Find out more: http://www.gregoryjohnsonlaw.com/

Nursing Homes Ratings How To Choose The Best Nursing Home

With the help of nursing homes ratings, it is possible to identify the best nursing home in the country. The simple truth is that nursing homes all across the country are inspected for their quality. Even so, these inspections cannot always show whether the facility has problems. A much better means of checking whether a particular facility is up to the mark or not requires checking the ratings that the facility was given.

In order to find out more about nursing homes ratings, you will need to visit the website of Medicare where it is easy to locate a particular nursing home. You can search for it by entering part or the entire name and you can also search for it by its zip code or city and even by county and state. You can search for one or up to three nursing homes at one time.

Each such facility is rated according to number of stars. This means that the facility can get between one star and five star ratings. These stars show how well the facility did when it was inspected by state officials. Trained official inspectors will conduct exhaustive inspections of the site and this is done about once each year on average.

The inspection throws up information regarding how well the patients are being taken care of and what the care process is as well as how staff and residents interact with each other. It also takes a close look at the environment at the site. All this data is collated and used in order to determine what rating the site should be given. Five stars means that the site is excellent while one star shows that it is not good enough.

The site is also rated on the basis of its quality. In this case, the site will itself collect information and will then report it on its own. Again, it can receive stars from one up to five. When rating the site, things such as level of staffing will be taken into account. However, since this information is reported by the facility, it should be taken with a pinch of salt.

It is also important to understand that it is not always a good idea to judge a facility solely on the basis of the ratings it got. It is also equally important to pay a personal visit to the facility to check it with ones own two eyes.

It is important to pick the best nursing home because you want to ensure that your near and dear ones are going to get the best quality of care. By reviewing the ratings that the facility has been given you can form an opinion regarding its standards.

It is also important to breakdown the ratings so that you can understand what each rating refer to. As a person that is responsible for admitting a near and dear one into the best nursing home, you must make sure that you are admitting them to the best facility. You must inspect the facility and also judge it by its ratings. If everything measures up, you can then go ahead and admit your near and dear one to the facility.

Additional information at: http://www.medicare.gov/nhcompare/include/datasection/questions/proximitysearch.asp?bhcp=1

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