Optional Nursing Home

In a nursing home, there are many case – sensitive, optional, and occupational aspects. Some case – sensitive parts refer to: reasons for being placed in a care facility, temporay stays, types of care offered, the amount of residents, outings, and the different types of precautions taken to ensure safety. A few things fall into an optional category such as: choosing between care and if pets are allowed. An occupational side is the types of jobs offered and what each does in a day's time. All of these often raise questions for residents' families, and the answers vary with each family and resident

In a nursing home, everyone wants what is best for the individual, so there are many case- sesitive aspects to the experience. There are numerous
reasons for being placed in a nursing care facility. The three most common are altziemer's, dementia, and no one to care for the patient other than themselves. Altziemer's is a disease that affects how well the person remembers, knows, and moves. Eventually, the individual will regress all the way back to an infantile state, and will later pass away. With dimentia, the person will forget what the date is, and will "live" in an earlier time during their life. When a particular person can no longer care for themselves, they depend on others to care for them. Many residents do not have any other sources of care but the nursing home, and others have no one that is able to take care of them. Often times, elderly people will temprarily stay at a care facility for rehabilitation purposes. Sometimes, older people will have surgeries, and cannot care for themselves when recovering. This results in them having to rely upon a nursing home to get well again. Occasionally, families need relief from caring for those that are unable to. This is called Respite Care. "Respite Care, which gives families temporary relief from the responsibility of caring for family members who are unable to care for themselves" (Where Is Long Term Care Provided?). This shows how temporary care is not just for residents, but it is also for the families. It gives them the relief needed to continue to care for the loved ones. With there being such a large degree of needs to please, there has to be different types of care offered to each family to choose from. There are four types of care offered: independent living communities, assisted living, residential care, and continueing care. These all fall under the category of a nursing home. If an individual is placed at an independent living communtity, they are required to have full control over their daily life. "These communities provide a living environment for individuals of a certain age" (Types of Care Facilities). The age minimum has been set b the manager, or director, of the complex. An

age limit has been set, because it is meant for someone who needs care, not for one who is lazy or is still able to work.
This facility is designed to be more like a retirement home, rather than a nursing home. An assisted living facility, also called congregate housing, requires the resident to need little to no help in their daily life. Residential care facilities, or boarding homes, offer housing for hose who need help caring for themselves or have medical needs. It is most comonly licensed by the state, and has a minmum staffing reqirement that is also set by the state. A continueing care facility ensures independent living for as long as possible, and then it provides assistance if necessary. This is most commonly used for couples who require different types of care, and that want to stay together duuring their life at the nursing home. There is not a set minimum or maximum amount of residents required at a nursing home. The state decides the specific details of each, so it varies among each facility. Some care facilities take the residents on special outings. These trips are chaperoned by the nursing staff to ensure safety. To go on one of these outings, the nursing staff must see that he individueal is in an eligible state of mind, mobility, and has good behavior. There are precautions taken to prevent anything from happening to the residents. The three most common things to prevent are falls, aspiration, and siezures. "The VA particiapates in the Falling Leaf
Program, which tells the staff and visitors which residents are a fall risk" (Kent). To prevent aspiration, the nursing staff keeps the bed elevated at 90 degrees when eating, and alternates between food and liquid during the meal. The staff also makes sure that each individual has the apropriate diet texture. When taking precautions against siezures, there are padded bed rails on the beds, toungue blades on the bedside table, and bedside mats around the bed on the floor. All of these ensure that the resident will be safe, and gets the appropriate care that is needed.

There are many things that fall into a mandatory category at a nursing home.
However, there are also some optional conditions that include: choosing between care and allowing an individual resident to have a pet. When admitting someone into a nursing home, the person in charge of care is given many options to choose from. Often times, it is very difficult for the resident and their family to make a decision. Sometimes treatment options are extremely similar to one another. This often poses a problem, especially if the specific person is not familiar with medical terms and care. This can cause confusion, and it might possibly provide the wrong care for the individual. It comes down to which is the best treatment option for the resident. If the care facility allows residential animals, the care facilitator will have to decide between allowing the resident to have pet live with them or not. This, however, is not as difficult a decision as choosing between care. It is a simple choice to make. Some ask themselves questions such as, is this resident able to care for a pet as well as themselves? These questions make the process easier to come to a conclusion. If the individual requests to have a pet live in the facility with them, it must be approved by the director of the specific place. This ensures that the animal is safe, and doesn’t harm or cause any problems for the other residents. Allowing a resident to have a pet and deciding between types of treatment are some of the
optional aspects of living in a nursing home, or care facility.