Choosing a nursing home for long-term care can be challenging, especially if you must choose quickly. Many factors go into this decision, including cost, location, and services. Researching your options can help you make the best choice for you and your loved ones. Here are some factors to consider when making that choice:
- An in-person visit to the facility is extremely important and will help you assess the cleanliness, safety, amenities, and appearance of the nursing home, as well as watch how staff interacts with residents.
- How well is the facility staffed? This is often the most important indication of quality.
- What sort of training has the staff had? How responsive are they to the needs of residents?
- Where is the facility located? It’s best to choose one close to family or loved ones to facilitate visits.
- What are the ratings of the nursing home? If you must make a quick choice, you may want to limit the search to those with 4 and 5 star ratings.
There are some excellent online resources that may also help you as you consider your options. Links to the sites below can be found on our Additional Resources and Links page (where you’ll find other valuable information).
- Medicare Care Compare allows you to find and compare different Medicare providers, including nursing homes, and sort them according to distance and different ratings.
- The NYS Department of Health has created a site – Selecting a Nursing Home in New York State – A Guide for Consumers – which provides a great deal of information about nursing homes and what to look for when choosing one.
- Long Term Care Community Coalition provides state by state data on nursing home staffing, ratings, and more.
- ProPublica has a very comprehensive article called How Safe Are Nursing Homes Near Me? This Tool Will Help You Find Out. It provides a link and instructions for how to use ProPublica’s Nursing Home Inspect, which allows you to compare nursing homes based on inspection and safety reports, and provides information about facilities which have been cited for poor infection control.
- Caring.com’s How to Choose an Assisted Living Facility is another wonderful resource with a ton of helpful information, including an assisted living research checklist and other useful tools.
Remember to visit our links page for these and many other useful resources and links.
We know that choosing a nursing home is not easy for many reasons. Know that we are here to help. If you have any questions or need advice, we are only a phone call or email away!
Note: The information provided herein does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice; instead, all information, content, and materials available here are for general informational purposes only.
