Long-Term Care In Nursing Homes

Current numbers show substantial growth from the eighties, and estimates suggest that the demand for long term care among the elderly will more than double in the next thirty years. (Feder, Komisar, and Niefeld) This growth will exacerbate concerns about balancing institutional and noninstitutional care, assuring quality of care, and most importantly adopting and sustaining financing mechanisms that equitably and adequately protect the elderly who need long-term care.

Unfortunately, in recent years the cost of providing these traditional services has grown to a point that the programs set in place to care for seniors and chronically ill patients has undergone numerous cuts. This calls into question are the standards of care that nursing facilities provide being cut to compensate for these changes in the rate paid.

In Being Mortal, Atul Gawande painted a little depressing picture of the realities faced by the elderly in the US nowadays: declining health status, economic insecurity, and loss of independence. It seems once the older people move into nursing homes or assisted living facilities, they lose autonomy, dignity and privacy as the institutions are not able to fully individualize care. Even though the situation has been improving, it still shocks me to see how unhappy some of the elderly are in these circumstances. Realizing senior care facilities often fail to address all aspects of well-being, I would like to explore the issues of promoting both objective and subjective component in quality of care for the older people.

The past several decades, has shown and increased inquired interest on nursing home facilities, and making them more than just a facility, and more like a home for the elderly population. There have been a significant number of facilities that have actually strived to maintain an individual residing in nursing home facilities sense of autonomy; dignity and right over their lives in order have control over their own well-being. The Social Security Act, Sections 1819 and 1919 require facilities to be in compliance with federal requirements of quality of care and quality of life. CMS emphasizes on Person-Centered Care, Quantity of Staff, Individualized Approaches to care and Engagement of Resident and /or Representative in decision-making. These regulations are based upon values of respect and freedom for older persons in various ways to include an individual 's right to take risks or to make their own choices.

Healthcare in the United States and around the world has always been a problematic issue when discussing on how clients should be housed and cared for in different healthcare environments. The demographic for Acute care applies with any individual regardless of age or condition while long term care facilities usually only apply for patients with similar conditions and the elderly. Americans who are seeking the best quality of the healthcare rely on the establishment with assistance from nurses and doctors to provide that top care. The intent for both care facilities also differ due to their intentions, whereas Hospitals work on treatment and to ultimately cure their clients, nursing homes are designed for giving a client the best quality of life and long term therapy. Precautions and provisions have been taken place at both care facilities to ensure the patient’s health is in its best interest. For the best care and top ongoing assistance for patients long term facilities are a better option than hospitals due to the nurses quality of service, cost of housing and care, and therapy.

Design and scope constitute element one. Pertaining to nursing homes, a quality improvement program should take aim at medical care, resident selection, and quality of life (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services [CMS], n.d.). An initiative was developed to better diabetes care

This paper intends to identify a Quality Indicator (QI) that measures and improves the quality of care in long term care facilities. The quality indicator is: the percentage of long term residents who report moderate to severe pain. I will describe the facility where the QI has been identified, and how aspects of the organization impact the QI. I will also describe how the QI relates to the facilities mission/vision/and values. I will identify a solution to the QI issue, which will help remedy the issue. I will conclude with my personal/professional philosophy and how it applies to the QI issue. My intention of the overall paper is to look at the facts, how data is gathered, and to find a solution to help with the QI at the

The Obama administration has attempted to tackle many healthcare issues over the years through the Affordable Care Act (ACA), with focal points such as Medicare, Medicaid, the aging population and long-term care. Recent announcements from the Obama Administration include modernizing federal rules that affect long-term care and healthy aging by updating the quality and safety requirements for thousands of nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities, suggesting better quality of life, enhance person-centered care and services in long-term care facilities, and bring regulatory requirements closer with regards to professional standards (The White House, 2015). These recommendations align with my position in terms of adequate education, training,

This article discussed one of the most forgotten impacts on retirement readiness, the need for Long-Term Care (LTC). The article uses tables to breakdown and show examples of what households with differing income/wealth would need to be fifty percent, seventy-five percent or ninety-five percent confident they were sufficiently prepare for retirement should they need LTC. It discusses the impact to the households wealth should Medicare be the only option, which is the case for most low-income and many middle-income households. It also says that researchers agree that private insurance is an important part of being financially secure at retirement. Other options are presented in the article such as integrating LTC with 401(k) plans, but they

It’s common for seniors who don’t receive the proper care to develop complications that threaten their life. One reason seniors don’t receive proper care is due to inadequate staffing levels. Senior living facilities that constantly understaff their facilities should be avoided. By straining their staff, these facilities reduce the level of care they can provide their residents. Caregivers should observe staffing levels, other residents, and the type of care offered at the facility before making a decision about a particular facility.

individuals who are insured were willing to travel for medical care if the savings netted from $1000 to $2,400. Lastly over 38 percent of uninsured individuals and over twenty five percent of individuals with insurance are willing to travel abroad for medical care if the savings exceed $10,000 (Herrick, 2007). Overall, the majorities of medical tourists seeks lower prices for medical care and are motivated to travel if the end result reduces the burden on their own pocket books.

The authors took a qualitative design to their research to developed an understanding why the quality of care varied across several nursing homes (Burns, D. J., Hyde, P. J., & Killett, A. M., 2016, p. 995). This study included 12 different nursing homes which consist of a mixture of non-profit and for profit nursing homes and residential living communities over the course of three years (2009-2012). Each nursing home varied from 10 to 65 bed facilities that varied in the terms of the level of care provided. Field research consisted of repeated site visits to each nursing home or living community, interviews, and observations. Each visit to the different nursing communities lasted from four to six weeks. During this time, the authors conducted 175 different interviews including department heads, nurses, caregivers, residents, and family or relatives of the

This point of this paper is to illustrate the purpose of long-term care, its’ duties and functions, as well as addressing the challenges of this branch of healthcare in America.

“Patient satisfaction has been one of the widely used measures in home health care as an indicator of quality of care. A few efforts have been made to develop psychometrically sound patient satisfaction scales for use in home health care.” (Nurs, 2013) When it comes to care, most see it in general as caring for someone regardless of the environment. Does the patient’s environment have an effect on the care they are receiving? Is home health care a better alternative to nursing homes? Should my loved one be in a nursing home facility? These are questions to keep in mind upon reading.

It is inevitable that individuals are bound to need medical attention at least once within their lifetime considering no person is immune to an illness or injury. However, many people dread going to the hospital or staying in a nursing home because they lack privacy, they’re expensive, uncomfortable, crowded and too busy. Many people today are seeking home health care because it’s less expensive, convenient and they prefer to receive medical attention in their home environment. Home health care allows patients to receive health care services within the comfort of their own home for their illness or injury and requires the nurse and other needed healthcare professionals to work around the patient’s schedule. Visiting Nurse Health Systems (VNHS) is an organization that strives to help patients successfully manage their health and provide patients with the best quality care in the comfort of their own home through using their wide range of health care services and through the team work of their health care professionals. They provide structure within the workplace to try and meet the needs of their patients and employees and to achieve the goals of the organization. VNHS uses it’s funding to help all that is in need of home health care.