Monday, August 12, 2013

Reasons Why Nursing Homes Are So Important


Nursing Homes are so important to the elderly once their safety, health care, nutritional care and day-to-day living needs are being neglected. There are many Reasons Why Nursing Homes are so important, yet (sometimes) to the elderly person the Nursing Homes are not the places they want to be in.

Nursing Homes Are Important

When an elder person safety needs start to be affected by their own behaviour due to dementia or ailing health then another solution is needed. Be it from home help, family help or even Nursing Homes. Once there are no other options available to keep the elderly person at home then a decision needs to be made to where the best place is for that aged care person.

Safety Of Aged Care People

The safety aspect of an aged care person is important.There are many reasons why staying at home by themselves is no longer an option. Here are five reasons why staying at home is no longer safe.


  1. Doors and Windows are no longer being locked giving easy access to the people and contents of the house from the general public

  2. The aged care person can no longer recognize when it is safe to answer the door and will let in people who could take advantage of them

  3. Other people are able to convince the aged care person to hand over important information such as bank details, or even give access to their money.

  4. Valuable items are noticed missing from the house, and when questioned by family members the aged person can not remember where those items are.

  5. The layout of their house has rugs/mats and furniture that are placed about the house - in positions that could potentially cause slipping accidents. Or even cause a fall that could result in broken bones.
Nutritional Care

When an elderly person forgets to feed themselves or skip meals then the nutritional needs of that person is not being met. That is one Reason Why Nursing Home Are So Important, because there are three meals provided every day plus morning tea and afternoon tea. Food is important for the older person to keep the weight on, and to prevent illnesses. Once they start to skip meals, or make poor food choices then Nutrition is lacking and will affect their skin, their general health and give to weight loss.

Nursing Homes Provide Health Care

Most (if not all) Nursing Homes provide vital Health Care Services. From Doctors who visit daily, to outside visits to dental care, eye specialist, chiropractor care, specialists and many other Health Care providers. The cost of these services are normally covered with a Medicare Card or under the aged care pension card /veterans affairs card. Yet when an elderly person is living at home by themselves these vital services are forgotten. A good reason Nursing Homes are so important...they have staff that organise these services for the residents.

Day to Day Living Needs

The Day to Day Living Needs are important to an aged care person, from waking up and having a shower, to dressing, having breakfast, cleaning the kitchen, watching TV, washing the clothes, shopping for food, cleaning the house, mowing the yard, driving the car, to visiting friends and even having friends/family over. When those day-to-day living needs can no longer be met then a Nursing Home is able to give help to their Residents. The Lifestyle Co-ordinator is there to arrange such needs as cleaning, feeding, washing of clothes, ringing for taxis, organising outings and assisting with Day to Day living.

There are many reasons Why Nursing Homes Are So Important. It depends on the residents reasons of why they need a Nursing Home, their acceptance of the help that they need and their level of understanding. Once a person reaches a stage where they are no longer able to live safely by themselves, and forget their basic needs then assistance of either home help or nursing care, or a nursing facility is very important.

To read any other Nursing Issues within Nursing Homes visit Nursing Issues.

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