Expert Column
Carolyn L. Rosenblatt 
Attorney at Law, RN
Carolyn L. Rosenblatt, RN, attorney-at-law, began her career as a nurse, working as an...read more
Articles In This Column
- The Pros & Cons of Guardianship or Conservatorship: How to Know If It's Right for You
- What Is The Difference Between A Power Of Attorney And A Conservatorship or Guardianship?
- Financial Decision Making & Legal Limits: What Can A Power Of Attorney Do?
- Can A Power Of Attorney Document Be Used For Medical Decisions?
- Consumer Alert: Exposing the Flaws in Medicare's 5 Star Rating System of Nursing Homes
- Legal Limits of Care in Assisted Living Facilities
- Alzheimer's: Transitioning from Home to Assisted Living
- How to Talk to Parents About the Future
- Using Mediation to Manage Conflict in Long Term Care Facilities
- Physical & Financial Elder Abuse: What You Can Do
A+ critique. When the 5 star system came out, I looked it over and promptly sent out a voice mail to my co-workers (hospital social workers and case managers) with two parts: (1) all of the patients are going to be looking at this, (2) it's terrible. I've had patients get awful care at 5 star facilities and excellent care at 1 star. It's screaming obvious the differences between states (we're on the cusp of 3). I DO use, and have encouraged our Department to use, the Special Focus Facility list from CMS (very troubled facilities), as I find that to be spot on. Thanks for writing this article. I hope someone listens to you.
Thank you so much Naomi. I've gone through all the larger popular "how to choose a nursing home" sites on the net, and wrote more guidance in my minibook, How to Choose a Nursing Home, part of The Boomer's Guide to Aging Parents, available at AgingParents.com in audio, ebook and print.
I think that you are right for the most part, but the rating system is not correct nor is it updated, It dosen't explain that the medical issues did not happen at the facilities, sometimes those issues come from home, Hospital, Assisted Living and so on. Unfortuanely they count aginst the Nursing Homes when they accept them. It's unfortunate, there are some facilities that have had great changes for the better yet, someone is always putting a baracade in front of them. It can be very difficult for the staff to constantly keep talking about how well they've done via survey or that we've have succesfully sent patients home with better than they were prior to coming to us or at the best that they can be. I'm always hearing about how bad the Nursing Homes are, never how benificial they are to the community or the good things they do. It makes people afraid of coming to the Nursing Homes, the family will drain themselves mentally,physically and finacially just to see that they do not send them, and then when they bring them to us out of no other solution, they come to find out that they are not all bad and they wonder why those nursing homes are mixed in with the per say "Bad or Terrible Nursing Homes" or that awesome rating system that CMS has provided to us as a tool. It's amazingly sad that those families will go through all that.
Well I'm done venting:) Hope that maybe rather then looking at the internet for information they should tour the building and do their home work and get a feel of the staff and the care there. It may be the best thing that they can do for their loved one.
I'm not known for my spelling or grammar hope that doesn't go against me.
Kudos to the Nursing Homes for being there.