Skilled nursing home health is the area of advanced practice healthcare focused on providing care that exceeds the needs of the patients in a setting that is safe, convenient, and appropriate for them.
Advanced practice nursing (APN) practitioners are able to provide more complex care and more extended care compared to standard nurse care. In addition, they can work in a variety of settings including hospital-like settings with intensive medical attention, or in a home-like setting with supportive care.
In order to provide quality health care in a skilled nursing home, advanced practice nursing skills such as geriatric psychology or social work are needed. Health team members should be present to help coordinate and support the Advanced Practice Nurse’s (APN’s) work.
This article will discuss various code terms related to advanced practice registered nurses (R RNs) who work as Geriatric Health Team Members (GHTs).
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Examples of these services
Skilled nursing home health care includes monitoring and treating the physical, mental, and emotional needs of the patient. It also includes providing education and activities for the patients to engage in.
Typically, skilled nursing homes offer one or a few of these services. Some better match each need that a patient has. For example, if a patient needs assistance with walking, the home could offer a mobility assistive device or skill training.
Some homes provide occupational therapy, either on an in-unit or extra-long-term basis. Since this helps correct any physical or psychological problems that the patient has, it is very important to have quality quality.
Finally, some homes offer specialized medical care such as rehabilitation or surgery management. This includes managing patients who have complications from other medical conditions such as medication side effects or disfigurement requirements.
Conditions treated
Treatment conditions are listed as the code for the Healthcare Channel. These conditions can be minor or major, and they are considered treated in healthcare.
These conditions may be treated by a nursing home aide, patient or family member, or a qualified professional such as an advanced practice nurse. Some of these conditions include:
Poor hygiene (dysphora, infection, malnutrition)
Disinterest from family and poor quality of life
Deaths or changes in death process such as retraction of head or unresponsiveness are common with this code. It is important to have an adequate number of caretakers to ensure the needs of each resident are met.
Patients treated
What types of patients are candidates forskilled nursing home health? People with:
Inactive or minimally active living conditions, such as those caused by advanced age or declining health; or
Degenerative conditions such as arthritis, stroke, Parkinson’s, etc. that reduce an individual’s ability to engage in normal daily activities; or
Disabilities that decrease independence, including: difficulties with memory and learning, physical disabilities (including mobility limitations), and psychological problems.
These conditions can be challenging to care for as they often require more help from the individual receiving care. Additionally, residents who are not fully independent may need help with tasks such as getting out of the bed or dressing and functioning in the community.
To determine if your patient is candidate for skilled nursing home health, you first need to determine their current level of self-care.
A nurse providing skilled nursing home health services can expect to see between 2-6 patients at a time
This is what makes a skilled nursing home healthcare system. You can have two or four patients walk in each hour who need help.
Typically, one person will be admitted to the nursing home and then transferred to another room or section of the facility to continue receiving care. This continues until all patients have been cared for and evacuated, at which time new patients can come in if space allows for it.
Common procedures performed in a nursing home include physical exams, blood tests, and nutritional analyses. Other services provided include occupational, behavioral, and social support services.
While the average length of time a patient is in their room before they are checked out is about an hour, this can take some getting used to. Some people feel rushed when they see the amount of patients that need to be attended to simultaneously.
This takes away from their quality of care and satisfaction with it.
Hours vary by facility and nurse
Typically, a skilled nursing home nurse has a shift of around 80 hours per week, with an average of 90 hours per week. This work can vary from short weekly rounds to longer months and years.
On the day of service, nurses wear a uniform consisting of a name badge and medical ID card. They also have a professional-looking logo on their shirts and hats.
The name badge displays the nurse’s initials, their job title, and the date they started working at the facility. The ID card contains information about the nurse’s family members and other people they may need to contact in case of an emergency.
This extra safety gear helps create a comfortable environment where people can come to seek help. It also helps authorities identify the nurse if something happens.
Salaries vary by facility and experience
Salaries in the skilled nursing home industry are a topic of much discussion. Many people are surprised by how much money someone on a moderately compensated unit can make versus someone on a more expensive unit.
This is a sensitive topic, so it is important to find out what salary range a facility is in and its average compensation. Some cost-focused units may also be underpaid compared to more extravagant ones.
It is important to look at what experience and/or certification someone has, as well as where they went for their training. All of these things play a role in determining whether or not someone is paid appropriately for the work they do.
Another factor that can be the difference between getting paid or paying yourself is going out in the community and finding jobs based on your skills.