A nursing home is a long-term care facility that offers skilled or intermediate nursing care. Skilled nursing is an intense level of nursing care as authorized by the resident’s physician on a 24-hour basis. Intermediate care is physician authorized, 24-hour care on a less intensive level. All homes offer a full array of personal, dietary, therapeutic, social, spiritual, recreational and nursing services. Meals, laundry and housekeeping are provided.
Services: The goals of nursing home admission are different for every resident. Some residents will return home after a brief rehabilitative stay, while others are very ill and may live only a short time. Many need care for an extended period. Whatever the situation, good nursing homes enable all residents to capitalize on their strengths and compensate for their weakness in an atmosphere as home-like as possible.
Payment: Some residents, or their families, pay for the care out of their own private funds or with private long-term care insurance. Others, whose finances are depleted, rely on Medicaid to cover costs. It is important to know that Medicare is very restrictive in reimbursement, has a considerable co-payment and covers, at the most, 100 days of care.
