What You Need to Know About Modern Nursing Home Options
There are some things you should know about modern nursing homes since separating myth from fact won’t just put your mind at ease. It can also help you considerably when the time comes to transition yourself or a loved one to long-term care at a skilled nursing facility like Princeton Health Care Center.
Is it a Nursing Home, Or Isn’t It?
You’ll often hear three terms used more or less interchangeably: nursing home, long-term care facility, or skilled nursing facility. Nursing home is often the more generic traditional term for a facility that offers a wide range of healthcare and personal care services. With changes in policies and procedures, training, staffing and the quality of care being offered, today’s nursing homes have greatly improved experiences at these commonly called long-term care or skilled nursing facility. We’ll take a look at the differences between a skilled nursing facility and a long-term care facility. What these facilities share in common is that they are more tightly regulated now than ever before. But there are some important differences in their goals, what Medicare and Medicaid will cover, and the types of care offered.
By definition, a long-term care facility offers skilled nursing care. Princeton Health Care Center offers many services as part of our delivery of long-term care, but its goal is different than that of a skilled nursing facility. One difference is the duration of the stay; one normally enters a long-term care facility when medical problems mean that living at home or in assisted living poses significant challenges or even dangers. A skilled nursing facility, by contrast, focuses more on rehabilitation with an eye toward returning the resident to their own home when they’re able to do so safely, and in good health.
When It’s Time for a Long-Term Care Facility
Because they provide around the clock care for those who otherwise wouldn’t be able to care for themselves, a long-term care facility can benefit seniors whose golden years are beset by severe illness or disability. Princeton Health Care Center offers an added benefit; we operate a sixty-bed memory care unit for those with dementia and Alzheimer’s. When it opened, it was the first of its kind in the state of West Virginia, and we remain at the forefront of long-term memory care.
Skilled Nursing Facility Services
In addition to our memory care unit, Princeton Health Care Center offers a range of other medical and short-term rehabilitative services. It’s important to note that even though each department has its own specialties, each works together on an as-needed basis; it’s common for our in-house physician to coordinate between our speech therapists, physical therapists, and occupational therapists to aid in residents’ recovery from medical crises. But we also offer the comforts and amenities of home, including a barber shop and salon, and a roster of activities that engage mind, body, and spirit.
The Princeton Health Care Center Advantage
Experience matters and has a lot to do with the quality of care you can expect from a long-term care facility. Princeton Health Care Center has decades’ worth of experience to draw from, and we do so on a daily basis. We bring the lessons of the past and the best in today and tomorrow’s health care methodologies to each resident to ensure a continuum of compassionate, quality care. If you or a loved one require a long-term care or skilled nursing facility in the Princeton WV area, reach out to us for answers to your questions and a tour of our campus.