Birmingham Nursing Homes

Birmingham nursing homes provide the most advanced medical treatment found outside a hospital. Nursing homes are a residence for seniors and patients with the rehabilitative needs or serious medical conditions requiring evaluation, observation and management. Caregivers, including doctors, nurses, therapists, social workers and non-medical staff are on call to give continuous monitoring and care to all patients.

Also called skilled nursing facilities, nursing homes often deliver specialized care. The main breakdown for Birmingham skilled nursing facilities is between short-term care and long-term care. Short-term care focuses on helping patients recuperate from acute medical events. The most common events landing seniors in a short-term stay are strokes, heart attacks, aneurisms and fall related injuries. A prescribed path for short-term recovery will often include physical, respiratory, speech or occupational therapy. Ultimately, short-term care aims to help move patients to either lower levels of care, like assisted living or in home arrangements, or to their previous lives. Long-term care deals with moderate to severe medical conditions like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, dementia or general physical decline. Nurses and doctors administer quality health maintenance and care by performing medical procedures and checkups. Non-medical personnel help make long-term patients as comfortable as possible by aiding with activities of daily living. Social workers are present to give a level of companionship and social interaction to long-term patients.

Most long-term stays occur due to a declining medical condition, while most short-term stays are caused by an abrupt medical crisis requiring a hospital stay. High quality hospital care is important for the initial period of recovery. Well-informed physicians will be able to give helpful recommendations and referrals to reputable area nursing facilities. In Birmingham, the best hospital care, based on patients’ previous hospital experiences, can be found at University of Alabama Hospital and St. Vincent’s Birmingham.

Birmingham’s nursing care costs are slightly elevated over the Alabama median but still fall under the national average. Nursing home patients can expect to pay a monthly cost of $5,464 and $5,709 for semi-private and private SNF rooms, respectively. Less inclusive care options, like homemaker services, home health aide and assisted living care bear a monthly cost of $3,041, $3,051 and $2,348, respectively.

Moving to a nursing home is difficult for all parties involved. For seniors, they have to come to grips with leaving their old residence, friends and family. Family members of nursing home patients often feel guilty for not being able to fully provide for their aging parents or relatives. Caregivers often have a tough time caring for seniors that believe they can still live independently. Nursing home personnel may also have to maneuver around inheritance or estate disputes. Our site wants to help inform seniors and their loved ones of the complex issues at hand. We want to help them find quality nursing care with dedicated and compassionate caregivers that intersects with their financial, emotional and medical needs.