It is crucial that you evaluate your senior loved one’s unique needs first before weighing in your options. Some seniors simply need someone else to drive for them. Others need help buying groceries and preparing meals. There are also seniors who require the services of skilled nurses in order to recover faster from their condition or previous surgery.
Today’s technology enables medical professionals to provide the right kind of care to patients in every setting. It does not matter if your senior loved one requires professional nursing help at home, in a hospital, or in an assisted nursing facility. They can now enjoy skilled nursing care wherever and whenever necessary.
Choosing Between Nursing Home Care and Skilled Nursing
Before you choose any of these options, it is crucial that you talk to your senior loved one. Be honest with each other about their current senior needs. This way, you can find the best nursing care that matches their needs.
Do they simply require regular assistance when it comes to personal care, medications, and transportation? Or maybe they simply need help with general care, 24-hour emergency care, or a safe place they can live for a long time? Do they require medical care for their skin diseases, rehabilitation, or even assistance for their progressive neurological disorder?
For instance, your senior loved one now undergoes dialysis treatment. You want to make sure that the skilled nursing facility you will be choosing is a skilled nursing facility that also offers onsite dialysis management solutions. This way, you can save money and ensure your senior loved one gets to enjoy a higher quality of care.
But the question is, should you choose a nursing home care for your older adult, or will a skilled nursing facility make better sense for their needs? How can one choose between these seemingly similar options?
Differentiating Nursing Home Care and Skilled Nursing
Many people are familiar with nursing homes. We think that this senior care option is the best for seniors who now require the help of nurses to live a better quality of life. But then, many people don’t understand that there is a difference between nursing home care and skilled nursing.
Nursing Home Care
Nursing home care is also known as nursing home options. These professional services are for seniors that require a safe place for longer periods of time. Many seniors in nursing homes stay at an average length of 835 days. They usually require basic care and assistance, such as the following:
- Room and board
- Housekeeping services
- Transportation services
- 24-hour emergency care
- Monitoring of medications
- Social and recreational activities
- General Care (like stretching, vitamins, oxygen, eye drops, catheter care, etc.)
- Personal care (like bathing, dressing, toilet assistance)
With the rising demand for nursing care services at home, many are now embracing home health care provided by licensed professionals. This is due to the increasing number of older adults aging in place. Since they are unwilling to enroll themselves in a nursing home, they would rather avail themselves of such services in their own houses.
Skilled Nursing
Skilled Nursing is a specialized service provided in Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNF). Registered nurses, therapists, and other medical professionals will provide high levels of medical care, depending on the patient’s needs. They offer rehabilitative services such as speech, occupational, and physical therapy.
Some SNF takes in special cases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease. They make use of special equipment needed to provide medical care to their patients on a 24/7 basis. This is since at least one of each licensed health pro will be on duty to provide the necessary care for their patients.
The staff of SNF can work in different settings. It all depends on where patients are currently staying and requires skilled nursing services. They can offer their services even if the patient is admitted in a hospital, in a nursing home, in the patient’s own home, or other facilities.
Skilled nursing staffs provide services not limited to the following.
- Wound care
- Speech, physical, and occupational therapy
- Giving injections
- Inserting feeding lines and catheters
- Treating skin diseases
- Planning, managing, and assessing patient care
SNF offers specific care plans to cater to a senior’s ever-changing needs. This means the kind of care provided will depend heavily on the condition of your senior loved one. They can help seniors recover from stroke and acute illness, take care of wound care, and even cater to patients with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease.
This goes to show that these two nursing options offer different kinds of services to seniors. Knowing the difference between the two will give you a better idea of which one to choose for your senior loved one. Don’t simply choose nursing home care if they need skilled nursing services and vice versa. Since your loved one deserves the best, start by finding the right nursing care solution for their specific needs.
