Nursing Home

A nursing home, skilled nursing facility (SNF), or skilled nursing unit (SNU), also known as a rest home, is a type of care of residents: it is a place of residence for people who require constant nursing care and have significant deficiencies with activities of daily living. Residents include the elderly and younger adults with physical or mental disabilities. Adults 18 or older can stay in a skilled nursing facility to receive physical, occupational, and other rehabilitative therapies following an accident or illness.

A nursing home is an entity that provides skilled nursing care and rehabilitation services to people with illnesses, injuries or functional disabilities. Most facilities serve the elderly. However, some facilities provide services to younger individuals with special needs such as the developmentally disabled, mentally ill, and those requiring drug and alcohol rehabilitation. Nursing homes are generally stand alone facilities, but some are operated within a hospital or retirement community.


Services provided in nursing homes include services of nurses, nursing aides and assistants; physical, occupational and speech therapists; social workers and recreational assistants; and room and board. Most care in nursing facilities is provided by certified nursing assistants, not by skilled personnel. In 2004, there were, on average, 40 certified nursing assistants per 100 resident beds. The number of registered nurses and licensed practical nurses were significantly lower at 7 per 100 resident beds and 13 per 100 resident beds, respectively. Specialty Care are:

*Alzheimer's treatment
*Cancer
*Cardiovascular disease
*Developmentally disabled
*Dementia
*Head trauma
*Hematologic conditions
*Mental disease
*Neurological diseases
*Neuromuscular diseases
*Orthopedic rehabilitation
*Pain therapy
*Pulmonary disease
*Para/quadriplegic impairments
*Stroke recovery
*Trauma
*Wound care



Nursing facilities that participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs are subject to federal requirements regarding staffing and quality of care for residents. In 2004, 98.5% of the 16,100 nursing facilities nationwide were certified to participate in Medicare, Medicaid, or both.

Medicare covers nursing home services for 20 to 100 days for beneficiaries who require skilled nursing care or rehabilitation services following a hospitalization of at least three consecutive days. The program does not cover nursing care if only custodial care is needed — for example, when a person needs assistance with bathing, walking, or transferring from a bed to a chair. To be eligible for Medicare-covered skilled nursing facility (SNF) care, a physician must certify that the beneficiary needs daily skilled nursing care or other skilled rehabilitation services that are related to the hospitalization, and that these services, as a practical matter, can be provided only on an inpatient basis. For example, a beneficiary released from the hospital after a stroke and in need of physical therapy, or a beneficiary in need of skilled nursing care for wound treatment following a surgical procedure, might be eligible for Medicare-covered SNF care.

SNF services may be offered in a free-standing or hospital-based facility. A freestanding facility is generally part of a nursing home that covers Medicare SNF services as well as long-term care services for people who pay out-of-pocket, through Medicaid, or through a long-term care insurance policy. Generally, Medicare SNF patients make up just a small portion of the total resident population of a free-standing nursing home.

Medicaid also covers nursing home care for certain persons who require custodial care, meet a state's means-tested income and asset tests, and require the level-of-care offered in a nursing home. Nursing home residents have physical or cognitive impairments and require 24-hour care.

The cost of staying in a Nursing home can cost several thousand per month or more. Some deplete their resources on the often high cost of care. If eligible, Medicaid will cover continued stays in nursing home for these individuals for life. However, they require that the patient be "spent down" to a low asset level first by either depleting their life savings or asset-protecting them, often using an elder law attorney.

Choosing a humane, well-run nursing home can be one of the most important decisions you’ll make in life. Unfortunately, it can also be one of the most rushed. Even when good information is available, you may have little time to digest it, especially if a hospital discharge planner says your relative must be out in 24 hours. He or she will often suggest a particular nursing home in the area, but you may not know whether the home is your best choice or a very bad one.