Our site aims to inform seniors and their loved ones of the many complex issues regarding nursing care, so they can find a quality skilled nursing facility in the right location, at an affordable cost and with compassionate and well-trained caregivers.
Fort Lauderdale nursing homes are prepared to give advanced custodial, social and medical treatment to patients with acute, sub-acute, temporary, permanent, chronic and serious health conditions. In a nursing home, also known as a skilled nursing facility, residents receive individualized care through a collective effort on part of doctors, nurses, therapists, social workers, non-medical personnel and other members of an interdisciplinary team of caregivers.
Fort Lauderdale area facilities offer two general types of care, short-term and long-term care. While some institutions only admit patients for one type, some have the ability to offer both types of care. Additionally, some nursing homes have specialized care programs for medical conditions like pulmonary diseases or memory loss.
Short-term care delivers rehabilitation services to patients who have recently been hospitalized for an acute medical event. Patients most commonly need short-term care to recover from the ill effects of strokes, aneurisms and falls. Medical treatment is mapped out by nursing professionals who work closely with patients and their families to determine the optimal course of action. Short-term patients often undergo speech, audio, respiratory, occupational or physical therapy to regain strength and minimize the damage caused by their medical event. Once short-term patients reach a certain level of health, many go on to pursue less inclusive types of care, like assisted living or in home care. Facilities often have discharge planners to help with this transition.
Future short-term patients should try to receive the best hospital care they can. Quality hospital care can get a patient’s recovery off to the right start. Fort Lauderdale’s most quality health care, based on patients’ hospital experiences, is provided by Holy Cross Hospital Inc and Broward Health Imperial Point Medical Center.
Long-term care focuses on extensive and extended treatment for severely mentally and physically impaired patients. Patients have illnesses like Alzheimer’s, dementia, kidney disease, hypothyroidism, or diagnoses like general physical or mental decline. Long-term patients often seek nursing home care because their existing condition had taken a downward turn. Nursing professionals look to improve or maintain patients’ level of health through responsive and continuous health monitoring, evaluation and observation. Doctors and nurses are present to give check-ups and perform medical procedures like tracheostomies, blood work, injections, intravenous therapy and medicine adjustments. Non-medical personnel assist patients with basic hygiene and other forms of custodial care. Social workers interact with patients daily by accompanying them on outings and talking to or spending time with patients in the facility.
Fort Lauderdale skilled nursing facility care costs are nearly 15 percent higher than the Florida state median. Private SNF accommodations have a monthly cost of $8,060. Semi-private SNF rooms run $7,437 per month. In the area, both homemaker services and home health aide cost $3,051 per month. Assisted living care costs $2,125 per month. Adult day health care has a monthly cost of $1,138.
For many seniors and their families, the high cost of nursing care forces them to turn to government programs to help pay for some of the cost. Medicare recipients should be aware of some of the requirements necessary for coverage to be activated. Their doctor must observe and prescribe a patient to a nursing home stay. For previously hospitalized patients, their hospital stay must have been at least 3 days. After being hospitalized, a patient must seek nursing home care within 30 days. Medicare will only cover 100 nights of nursing care in one benefit period and cannot be used for solely custodial care needs.