Tag: Cause of Hospitalization from Nursing Homes

Nursing Home Volunteer

Offering your free time to something that will benefit others is a very noble act. Volunteering will make you feel you did well with your free time by helping others; something memorable and worth the time. Nursing homes are one of the destinations of those who want to volunteer and spend some quality time serving people in need of a companion and assistance. Yes, a nursing home is not a fun place to visit; some call it a boring place. That’s a dishonor to our elders.

Home-2Volunteers are not required to have a background in healthcare or have some specific degree or certification. All you need is your willingness to volunteer. The usual needs of the nursing home residents are of course medical care, but they also need mental exercises and emotional connection that is very important to keep them healthy. If you become a volunteer in a nursing home, you will be involved in activities and games that are very exciting and enjoyable. During these activities, you might be hosting contests or dances, bingo nights and card games. These kinds of activities will make the residents forget about the loneliness.

You can also spend time talking to these remarkable residents who walked the earth long before us. You will be amazed by what you will hear about their life, the history that you are not aware of and their amazing adventure throughout their life. You will gain quality time and good memories throughout your shift as well as receive great smiles from the new people that you will meet. If you are the type of a person that loves interacting with people and open to extending help to others through your time, you might be suited to volunteering in a nursing home.

Cause of Hospitalization from Nursing Homes

A primary cause of hospitalizations from nursing homes, discussed in industry literature for more than 20 years, is the inadequate health professional employment levels in nursing homes. Last fall, the Kaiser Family Foundation released two studies about the hospital stay of elderly care facility citizens. Their findings about why elderly care facility citizens are hospitalized confirm earlier research in this field and point to the need to increase health professional employment in nursing homes as a way to improve quality of care in assisted living features and reduce hospital stay and re-hospitalization of patients.

The Kaiser study, “Financial Incentives in the Long-Term Care Context: A First Look at Relevant Information” determined the economical incentives that encourage hospital stay of elderly care facility citizens.[6]  These incentives include Medicare payment policies for doctors, skilled assisted living features, and hospice services as well as the dual roles of healthcare director and attending physician frequently being held by the same individual.

A companion study, based on interviews with doctors, nurses, social workers, and close relatives of residents, determined 10 factors that encourage hospital stay of elderly care facility residents: the limited capacity of assisted living features to address healthcare issues; physicians’ preference for inpatient settings; concerns with liability for not hospitalizing; economical incentives for doctors and facilities; inability of assisted living features to address residents’ healthcare needs; lack of relationship between facility staff, doctor, and family; lack of advance care planning; family preference; and behavioral health problems. Although several factors impact a decision to hospitalize an elderly care facility resident, a key factor determined in the Kaiser reviews and other studies mentioned is the lack of sufficient professional and paraprofessional medical staff in nursing homes.  The insufficient employment in assisted living features has been recognized for a long period.