Choosing a long term care facility for a loved one, such as a parent, child or spouse, is often a difficult decision. Naturally, you want to ensure the best care for your loved one. Finding the right facility often requires several interviews with prospective facilities. Below are three things you should discuss with any prospective care facility.
3 Things to Ask When Choosing a Long Term Care Facility
1. Employee retention rate
In general, happy employees are less inclined to engage in abusive or neglectful behavior. Therefore, you want to know what the employee retention rate is, or how often employees leave. A 50% retention rate, i.e., 50% of employees will stay on within a specified period of time, is quite low, and actually fairly common. Nursing homes, for instance, are notorious for having low retention rates.
Low retention rates can signify problems with staff, the people who will be looking after your loved one. A quality long term care facility will have a retention rate of 60% or higher. Therefore, you should aim for a retention rate of above 60%.
2. Notification in the event of an injury or accident
You should also inquire about the home’s policy regarding notification in the event of injury. In many nursing home injury and accident cases, the number one complaint is that family members did not receive notice about the injury until several hours if not days later.
If your loved one is injured or otherwise needs emergency medical care, what is the notification protocol? How soon do you receive notification? In addition, other pertinent questions include:
- Who makes the call as to whether your loved one needs emergency care?
- Where is the nearest emergency room?
- Who notifies your loved one’s medical (primary) doctor and when?
3. Background checks
While of course, care facilities perform background checks on employees prior to offering employment, you also want to know whether the home performs additional or subsequent background checks on employees. Just because an employee passed a background check when they were first hired does not mean that the same employee will pass a subsequent background check. Many nursing home abuse and assault cases involve employees who initially passed a background check and were later convicted of drug use or assault.
In addition, what is the home’s policy about roommates and in-room safety? Does the home perform background checks on all residents? You certainly do not want your loved one rooming with someone who was previously convicted of sexual assault or a violent crime.
About Our Law Firm
Our firm handles criminal defense and personal injury cases, including nursing home abuse and neglect cases. Firm partner, Jordan Namerow, has handled many nursing home injury cases. Call for a free case review. (215) 985-0777
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