Decatur Nursing Homes Information

Patients most commonly seek skilled nursing care to recover from an operation, to recuperate from an acute medical event or to receive long-term treatment for a persistent medical condition. Facilities are staffed by an interdisciplinary team of caregivers, including licensed and registered nurses and doctors, non-medical personnel, therapists, food services workers and social workers.

The cost for monthly residency at a Decatur skilled nursing facility falls under the national average but over $300 per month above the Alabama median level. Semi-private and private SNF rooms in the area bear monthly costs of $5,646 and $5,870, respectively.

Nursing homes often provide additional services outside of the general forms of care, which are short-term and long-term care. Respite care is designed to help relieve the stress of the relationship between family caregivers and their patients. Patients use short stays in nursing homes to give caretakers time to focus on other obligations so future care can be more effective and less straining. Adult day health care offers family caregivers the option of giving their patient a productive and stimulative environment during the workday. Institutions may also contain expert care units that admit patients who suffer from a specific medical condition, like memory loss.

Short-term care gives patients access to various forms of rehabilitation after they have had an operation, cardiac arrest, stroke, fall, aneurism or other acute medical trauma. After a brief hospital stay, patients are required to visit a short-term nursing facility as prescribed by their doctor. Hospital care is an essential step for patients hoping to fully recover from a medical crisis. Quality health care services in the Decatur area, based on patients’ previous hospital experiences, are provided by Decatur General Hospital and Parkway Medical Center. Short-term care residents are given ongoing assessment of their rehabilitation process so they can return to their highest level of functioning as quickly as possible. Therapists help patients through occupational, physical, auditory, respiratory or speech therapy to ready them for their next stage of recovery. After a short-term stay, those who still need medical treatment often move to assisted living or in home residential care.

Long-term facilities offers extensive, responsive and around-the-clock care to residents who have terminal, permanent, progressive and chronic illnesses like diabetes mellitus, peripheral vascular disease, Alzheimer’s, cancer, emphysema, vision impairment and Parkinson’s. Patients’ conditions are managed by all types of nursing professionals who have the duty of providing certain services that meet each patient’s needs. Doctors and nurses are on call for 24 hour supervision and to administer medical skills like injections, CPR, enteral feeding tubes, dialysis, medication adjustment, colostomy care and ventilator management. Non-medical staff are responsible for patients’ daily comfort. They assisting patients with activities of daily living like bathing, walking, feeding, toileting and dressing. SNFs try to maintain a high quality of life for its patients by offering amenities, counseling services, events, trips and leisure and relaxation activities that promote psychosocial well-being.

There are many different types of nursing homes seniors and their families can choose from. Long-term care is often as much about personal preference and comfort as it is about medical treatment. Certain nursing homes are similar to hospital care. These facilities house patients in individual rooms and there is a nurses’ station on each floor or wing. Other nursing homes have a more open floor plan and have flexible room plans that may allow couples to stay together. Such facilities may also have kitchens where residents are allowed to cook and generally allow more independence in living situation.