Nursing Homes

A nursing home is a residence for seniors who don’t need ongoing medical care like in a hospital or skilled nursing facility but can’t live independently because they need help available at the push of a button 24 hours a day. Some nursing homes have on-site medical care available, while others don’t. The following overview will take you through the different services available at nursing homes, eligibility requirements, and popular payment options.

Nursing homes can provide this non-medical custodial care, as there are employees on-site 24 hours a day. Some nursing homes have medical care, such as units that help those with Alzheimer’s disease or on-site nurses for non-emergency medical treatment.

The key point about nursing homes is that they are for anyone who may need 24-hour care that is not necessarily medical in nature. Licensed facilities provide nursing home care. Residents receive help with many daily non-medical living activities, such as:

• Bathing
• Dressing
• Transferring to or from bed or chair
• Using the toilet
• Caring for incontinence
• Eating
• Preparing and cleaning up after meals
• Managing money
• Taking medication
• Shopping for groceries or clothes
• Using the telephone or other communication devices
• Caring for pets
• Responding to emergency alerts such as fire alarms