When the time comes to move a parent into a New York nursing home or assisted living facility, the budget may play a key role in where your parent ends up. However, using a budget alone to select a nursing home for your mother or father may expose your parent to unfavorable conditions, short-staffed facilities or other hardships.
Per U.S. News and World Report, asking several simple questions during your hunt for a home for your mother or father may increase the chances of your parent ending up in a high-quality facility with kind, attentive staff members. So, before you decide on a particular place for your mother or father to live, consider asking the following two questions.
1. How much staff turnover is there?
If a nursing home has high turnover, this might suggest that employees are unhappy, not receiving adequate pay or both. On the flip side, if a facility has low staff turnover, this suggests that they are happy and satisfied in their positions. This may impact the quality of care your parent receives while living there.
2. What is the staff-to-resident ratio?
Another indicator of the quality of care your parent may receive in a particular residence is the staff-to-resident ratio. You want to feel confident that there are always enough staff members around to care for your parent. Yet, when there are only a few staff members on hand to care for numerous residents, it may have a direct impact on resident care.
Asking staff members the above questioned should give you a better sense of how a particular nursing home operates. However, you may also want to ask questions of the residents, themselves, to get an even more accurate picture of a particular home.