Skilled Nursing Facilities – Madison County Senior Living

Skilled Nursing Explained

Skilled nursing home facilities are for seniors requiring consistent skilled medical care for a serious ailment. This can include advanced cognitive decline, serious injury, physical disability, or potentially terminal illness. Patients can be admitted for both short-term and long-term issues and have care provided by doctors and skilled nurses specializing in senior care.

Care Offered By Skilled Nursing Facilities

Skilled Nursing provides for the activities of daily living like bathing, toileting, dressing, and mobility of patients as well as specialized care like

Post-hospital care: A senior may choose to reside at a skilled nursing facility after a major surgery or hospital visit to receive care while they recover.
Stroke-Recovery: Skilled Nursing Facilities can provide rehabilitative care to patients recovering from a stroke to assist with regaining speech and motor control.
Illness Care: Patients can receive care for an acute or life-threatening illness.
Wound Care: Skilled Nursing Facilities can clean wounds and provide antibiotics.
: Skilled nursing facilities can assist seniors with advanced cases of Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s, and other neurological or cognitive illnesses.

Each of these areas of care involves a wide range of medical and nursing services and different facilities vary in care offered, for example, some facilities may not provide care for patients with advanced neurological illnesses.

When Skilled Nursing is Necessary

Seniors are admitted to a skilled nursing facility when they can no longer have their needs met at home or other senior living facilities. Assisted living and memory care communities can provide assistance for seniors beginning to struggle with mental and physical decline but do not require 24/7 medical attention. You should consult a medical professional before deciding to admit your loved one to skilled nursing to determine if their needs could be met by other senior living options.

If a loved one wants to remain in the home, there are home health options to provide similar care to that found in skilled nursing.

Cost of Skilled Nursing

Original Medicare will cover the cost of a skilled nursing stay of fewer than 21 days, between 21 and 100 days you will pay $194.50 per day, and every day after 100 days will have to be paid out of pocket by the patient, and their family. Coverage of costs may be supplemented by long-term care insurance, but this too is generally short-term. The daily cost of skilled nursing when paid without assistance averages about $230.