When looking for a nursing home facility it is important to evaluate it yourself; even the state recommends doing some investigating on your own. Parkside Nursing Care Center for example gives off the appearance of being a great facility. When Action News tried to contact them they declined, so they went to their website and watched an informational video.
The homes administrator Ron Baker said, “One thing that I always tell my people and one thing I always want them to do is to treat the person you’re providing care for as if it were you mother or your father…” The video displayed happy residents and what looked like a great facility, however the video was deceiving. Parkside was given a three-thousand dollar fine for leaving their residents in pain and distress.
When reporter Valerie Hurst asked one man how he found a good facility he replied, “Talk to the people and some of the patients in there and talk to the nurses and the cleaning people and everything. If they’re a nice bunch of people and they keep it clean and you don’t have a urine smell in there or anything I think you got a pretty good facility.” Gordon brings up good points and it shows in the facility he chose for his mother. She is in a wonderful home that has a remarkable reputation.
If you want more details on what to look for when investigating the home, here is a quick checklist:
1. Always visit the place. Go on a weekend or evening when administration’s likely not around. Then you can see what the staffing is like
2. Watch the meal process. Is it fresh? On time?
3. Talk to people there—residents and families
4. Get in touch with the long-term residents advocate. This is someone who visits nursing homes in the region regularly.
5. Check the state’s assessment of the place—it should be posted.
6. Residents often hold their own council meetings with no staff on hand, so try to attend one of those.
7. You can also go to the Medicare website to compare nursing homes and see recent state reports.
To keep our seniors safe we need to be sure to put in the extra time and effort in ensuring they are in a facility that is what they claim to be.
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