Winston Salem nursing homes offer the highest level of medical treatment for seniors and patients outside of a hospital. Nursing care patients have specific health needs that cannot be cared for by less inclusive care options. A professional team of physicians, nurses, social workers, therapists and non-medical caregivers are present to provide around-the-clock monitoring and health management for both short-term and long-term patients. At nursing homes, also known as skilled nursing facilities, there are often special care units for specific medical conditions. Winston Salem skilled nursing facilities usually offer either short-term or long-term care, although some have the capacity for both types.
Short-term care concentrates on rehabilitation services for patients that have recently had a stroke, heart attack, aneurism, fall related injury or other acute medical crisis. Medical professionals will work with individual patients to follow their prescribed path of recovery. This path will often include respiratory, physical, speech or occupational therapy. Patients discharged from short-term stays can often go back to their normal lives. Those in need of further treatment usually seek in home or assisted living care. Long-term care consists of attentive custodial, social and medical care for patients with moderate to severe physical and mental disabilities. Long-term patients may be bedridden due to general physical decline or have illnesses such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis or diabetes. Nurses and physicians perform medical procedures like blood work, intravenous fluids and wound care, while also adjusting medicine dosage to improve or maintain patients’ levels of health. Non-medical staff are on hand to deliver companionship and help with activities of daily living.
Long-term stays are usually the result of a medical condition that has outgrown a previous type of care. The majority of short-term stays are precipitated by an acute medical event in need of a hospitalization. If patients have not recovered during their hospital stay, their doctor will require a nursing home stay. The quality of hospital care is important for nursing home referrals and for patients to get a jump start on their recovery period. In Winston Salem, the best hospital care, based on patients’ hospital experiences, is at Medical Park Hospital and Forsyth Memorial Hospital.
Winston Salem’s nursing care costs fall slightly above the national average and slightly under the North Carolina state median. Semi-private and private SNF rooms cost $5,962 and $6,312 per month, respectively.
Even though nearly 70 percent of seniors over the age of 65 will need long-term care in their lifetime, the need often sneaks up on them. Transitioning to nursing care is often a challenge emotionally and financially for seniors and their families. Nursing care coverage is often very limited. The strain of needing nursing care is hard on patients since they must leave their family and friends behind and on relatives as they may feel guilty about letting their aging parents or relatives down. Our site wants to equip seniors and their loved ones with the information they need to find quality care that meets their financial, emotional and medical needs.