Looking Into Nursing Homes in Colorado for a Family Member? ...Here’s Some Quick Tips

Investigating nursing homes for someone you care about can be a daunting experience but with a few quick tips the process should be a bit easier.

It is good practice to visit at least 3 different nursing homes to get a flavor of each care facility. After your initial visits you will get a basic feeling for each facility as it could possibly relate to the person you are looking at relocating to a long term care center. Some nursing homes may do very well with medically complicated residents, others may tend towards a younger population with either medical and/or psychological needs while other nursing homes tend to concentrate on older adults needing the services of both nursing staff as well as the certified nursing aide staff to care for their daily needs.

Once you have taken initial tours and have narrowed down the field to one or two nursing communities your next move would include making sure that the facilities of interest to you are licensed by the State Department of Health or the state office which licenses nursing homes. A call to the Health Department or licensing office can reveal any issues which may have been raised by health inspectors and what the facility has done to correct any concerns. You may also want to call the local nursing home ombudsman to find out their experiences with any facility you may be considering. Nursing Home Ombudsman visit long term care facilities and interact with both residents and staff so they can provide good insight into a facility under consideration. Ombudsmen operate through the state’s Area Agency on Aging office and traditionally, each county has an Aging Office.  Check with the county in which the nursing home is located to contact the Aging Office or you can note the name and phone number of the Ombudsman who visits the nursing home(s) you are looking into as Ombudsman’s posters are prominently displayed in public places in care facilities. Many states have now developed web sites within the state health department or other appropriate state office which gives licensing information and any concerns about particular facilities on line depending on the state.

When you tour, speak with the residents and staff. Residents are a great resource of information as to the care provided. Resident aides and other nursing home staff are also good resources as they are the backbone of the services provided to the resident. Staff appreciate being asked their opinion about the operation of the center and may share their personal insight into resident care and how daily life actually is for those residing in the community you are considering.

Look at the Activities Calendar to see what life enriching opportunities are provided for the residents. A good question to ask the residents and staff is if residents actually participate in the activities, does staff help residents get to the activities and what level of participation is observed. When touring the facility do residents verbally interact with other residents, not only in activities but while sitting in public places?

Follow your nose. How does the facility smell? A well run and well-staffed community should not have the smell of bodily functions. Of course there is always those cases where a resident has just soiled themselves and is in need of care but if odors present themselves which smell as if they have been present longer than necessary you may ask a staff member about the odor and evaluate their response. If the answer is vague or defensive you may want to reevaluate your interest in that community.

Food is central to a resident living in a nursing facility. Observe a meal being served. How does the food look when plated? Does it appear appetizing? Ask to eat a meal and observe if residents ask for additional food. If requests are voiced are their requests attended to quickly and with a positive staff attitude?

Ask to speak not only with the marketing representative but also the Social Worker who is usually your main contact person once you relocate your family member to a nursing facility. The Recreation Director is also a good person to meet as you can get information as to if the community will be able to provide meaningful recreational programming to the majority of the residents. Next you will want to speak with the Director of Nursing to see what their philosophy of resident care is, what is their resident to staff ratio (usually no more than 5 residents to 1 resident assistant) and ask about on-going staff training to find out if the care staff is provided new information in order to perform their jobs in a professional and knowledgeable manner. The last administrative person you may wish to meet is the Administrator. As the representative of the company either managing or owning the nursing home you will want to have insight into how the administrator is involved in the residents’ lives. Does the administrator manage by personally walking around the facility so that they can see how the daily needs of the center are being met?

With these few tips your search for a nursing home will have some structure and it will be easier for you and your family member to evaluate different nursing facilities and decide which one best meets the needs of your family member.