Selecting a nursing/rehab facility

<p>I’ve never seen a skilled nursing facility where they provide clothing other than hospital gowns. For rehab the patient needs comfortable clothes, such as sweats. (At the time, my mom had never worn pants in her life!)</p>

<p>Trying not to duplicate what others have said here, but it was my experience, too, that my mother was discharged after her 100 days (Medicare plus supplemental) were up. </p>

<p>Physical therapy with a person who has dementia can be tough. By the time of my mother’s rehab for her second fracture, her dementia had advanced and she wasn’t capable of a whoie lot. She could not describe her level of pain, and she resisted going into the therapy room because she was afraid and didn’t understand why she was there. I felt that this facility made no effort whatsoever to work with her special needs as a dementia patient. She also had speech and comprehension issues because of her stroke. As a family member, it’s good to follow the PT process closely, because the patient can be discharged from PT (and therefore from the facility) because he/she is determined to be incapable of making more progress. And that decision can be sudden (though they are required to give you a certain amount of notice–I can’t remember what).</p>

<p>Overall, don’t be afraid of skilled nursing facilities. My experience with the place my mom eventually moved (not the place described above) was anything but a horror story. They were kind to her, the care was excellent, and they were communicative and candid with the family. Building good relationships with the staff–even if your mom is only there for 90 days–is very important.</p>

<p>It was a blessing in disguise that the first facility my mom went did pretty much treat us the family like garbage. It got my guard up to ask questions next time that I probably should have asked in the first place.</p>

<p>This time around, my mom went to a long term acute care facility before going to SNF. The SNF facility that told me Mom would be out after 20 days was not a good option for us because I knew at 20 days, Mom was not going to assisted living status. So, perhaps, she would have had to move to another SNF facility.</p>

<p>Although my mom still has her mind, I noticed she is a little bit confused this time around. I think the moves have disoriented her. So, in looking for placement, you might want to consider a facility that has different levels of care should your mom need a longer stay before going back to wherever she was before her hip fracture.</p>