ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
If you or a loved one is currently residing in an assisted living facility, you may be wondering if you’ll inevitably end up in a skilled nursing facility. After all, the older you are the more likely you’ll need to live in a nursing home, right? Wrong. Not everyone who lives in an assisted living facility ends up transferring to a skilled nursing facility. But first, what is the difference between an assisted living facility and a skilled nursing facility?
Elders and seniors residing in an assisted living facility have greater independence than an elder or senior in a skilled nursing facility, or nursing home. While elders and seniors still need some help with day-to-day living, they don’t require higher and/or around-the-clock care, which residents in nursing homes do need.
Some seniors and elders will simply pass away naturally while living in an assisted living facility. Others may contract a terminal illness and spend the rest of their lives in a hospice, at home under hospice care, or remain in the assisted living facility. Still others will be hospitalized due to illness or injury and will either return to their assisted living facility or pass away in the hospital. So what may cause an elder or senior in an assisted living facility to be transferred to a skilled nursing facility or nursing home?
There are a few conditions that require transfer:
– IV Treatments
– G Tube/Feeding Tube
– Rank 3 or 4 Pressure Sores
– If the elder or senior can no longer self-administer Insulin
– Wandering Alzheimer’s elder or senior
– Need for restraints
If any of the above occurs, then the assisted living facility is required to transfer the resident to a skilled nursing facility or nursing home.
Then there are factors that may cause an elder or senior to be admitted into a skilled nursing facility or nursing home:
– Type I diabetes
– Smoking
– Hypertension
– Inactivity
– Obesity
– Dementia
If your loved one has more than one of the above, there’s an even higher chance of requiring admission into a skilled nursing facility or nursing home. However, even so, before committing your loved one into a skilled nursing facility or nursing home, still make sure to thoroughly check the placement.
Find out if there have been any warnings or citations issued against the skilled nursing facility or nursing home, and for what reason. Are you able to find assistance quickly? Do you see staff roaming about or is it empty? Do you feel you are being pressured into placing your loved one into the skilled nursing facility or nursing home? Because unfortunately, while nursing homes or skilled nursing facilities are designed to aid seniors and elders, they are often the culprit of elder abuse.
If you or a loved one has been a victim of nursing home abuse, contact Evans Law Firm, Inc. at 415-441-8669 or info@evanslaw.com for a free and confidential consultation. Evans Law Firm, Inc. handles physical and elder abuse, insurance/banking/consumer fraud, personal injury, and qui tam (whistleblower/false claims) litigation.
