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Summary
A nursing home is a place for people who don't need to be in a hospital but can't be cared for at home. Most nursing homes have nursing aides and skilled nurses on hand 24 hours a day.
Some nursing homes are set up like a hospital. The staff provides medical care, as well as physical, speech and occupational therapy. There might be a nurses' station on each floor. Other nursing homes try to be more like home. They try to have a neighborhood feel. Often, they don't have a fixed day-to-day schedule, and kitchens might be open to residents. Staff members are encouraged to develop relationships with residents.
Some nursing homes have special care units for people with serious memory problems such as Alzheimer's disease. Some will let couples live together. Nursing homes are not only for older adults, but for anyone who requires 24-hour care.
NIH: National Institute on Aging
Related Issues
- Hospice Care (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
- Long-term care (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)
- Report a Patient Safety Concern or File a Complaint (Joint Commission)
Specifics
- Nursing Home Checklist (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) - PDF
Statistics and Research
- National Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Study (National Center for Health Statistics)
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Long-Term Care (National Institutes of Health)
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Nursing Homes (National Institutes of Health)
Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: Longitudinal changes following the introduction of socially assistive robots in nursing...
- Article: SARS-CoV-2 Infection Among Nursing Home Healthcare Workers: A Longitudinal Study in...
- Article: Process evaluation of an individually tailored complex intervention to improve activities...
- Nursing Homes -- see more articles
Find an Expert
- AAAs (Area Agencies on Aging) & Title VI Aging Programs (USAging)
- Find Nursing Homes Including Rehab Services (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) Also in Spanish
- Find the Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program in Your State (National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care)
- Medicare: Find and Compare Health Care Providers (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) Also in Spanish
- National Institute on Aging Also in Spanish
Patient Handouts
- How to choose a nursing home (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish