The Plan For Your Future Needs To Be Planned Now!

This is the time, before you or someone you love needs services to explore and plan what will best meet your needs and provide the best, safest and comfortable existence in long term care.

The fact is, this will never be an easy choice but if you are prepared and informed it may not be so intimidating. The other challenge is that many people now live paycheck to paycheck with little savings, we have become a generation that lives for the moment and doesn't always plan well for the future. This can be significant when looking at long term care.

There are a few key points you for yourself or loved one should be aware of, the first is that assisted living is a tricky area with a lot of grey space. These are not licensed nursing homes so they are not governed as stringently.

Did you know that they are not required to have a real nurse there, they only need to be sure one comes in periodically to review charts. The people often administrating medications is someone who only took a week long course. (With a final exam of course but administered and graded by the person who taught the class) and can be on staff for the facility) I attended had clinicals and past a state board of nursing exam and I was terrified the first time I had to administer medications ,and there were only 3 patients, and at the most when the instructor approved 5. The very first time some CMTs(med techs) administer medications they may be administering to an entire assisted living unit and oriented to by another CMT not a nurse. This will be appropriate by licensing standards.

These units can have as many as 70 residents on several floors. I have been a nurse for over 20 years giving this many medications to this many people is an accident waiting to happen. The facility when marketing will tell you they have a nurse available 24 hours a day but that doesn't mean they are physically on the unit or even in the building.Check Apartments at Ki Residences For Sale by HoiHup and Sunway

Ask them this specifically, and before signing any lease ask for a copy of the floor copy of the staffing sheet, do not allow them to show you a master this will usually not show or reflect the actual days events, look to see if there are cross outs labeled WNBI this means the scheduled staff person is not coming. Look to see if they were replaced or did the staff work short? Ask for the last 7 days worth,did the staff work short consistently? If they did ask what the nursing administrations plans are to correct this.

Ask if the facility expects its nursing administration to work on the floor to ensure quality nursing care and the needs of the residents are met. Ask specifically how many residents each direct care staff will each be responsible for,do not include the nurse she will be administering medications, if there is one on duty each shift, they may only have a med-tech. Remember this is not required. This could be significant in the event of a real emergency or need for immediate assessment or intervention. I don't know about you but if I was paying $4000.00 a month I would want the reassurance that if I had chest pain, a gashing wound or needed intervention for something related to my blood sugar level that a person who went to real nursing school and past a state board would be directly on the unit to assist me.

The next thing you need to be aware of with assisted living is even if you are on its unit and become acutely ill, even if they have a nursing home unit they may not have a bed, and if they do they do not have to allow you to transfer especially if you reside in assisted living on a grant. Many times facilities that offer different levels of care even if they are marketed as non profit will place a private pay resident in this bed over a Medicaid resident. They are allowed to do this and to have a certain,set number of Medicaid beds with the rest as private pay .

The social worker or marketer will tell you that in house residents have priority ,but this is the same as the handshake by the used car guy. Get it in writing. There are many wonderful facilities who's staff are wonderful and dedicated but there are an equal amount of properties that are not. Do not judge by size and decor only. Visit the facility a few times unannounced a good property has nothing to hide,just be sure to check in with the office as another good practice is if staff ask you who you are and if they can assist you. If the staff don't this may be a sign of poor security, especially if this is on a week end or evening visit.

Observe the lobby or common areas where residents may be gathered, do they seem engaged and happy or bored and unsatisfied. The menu and activity calendars should be posted,see if there is anything you would like or loved one would like to participate in. If these are not stimulating and seem not to interest you be concerned inactivity, and boredom are bad for the aging process. This time in life should be about quality.

The third part of the puzzle is about finances. There are a large number of facilities that will not allow you to remain once your funds are spent down and you do not have the monthly income to pay the current rent. That means you could spend ten years and all your equity or savings and have to move out. Even if you are allowed to remain they move you from a one-bedroom to a shared room with another resident. Ask specifically before you sign the lease, and again get it in writing. The purpose of this is not to scare anyone but to educate and encourage you to plan an be prepared and aware. Ki Residences