Athens Nursing Homes

Athens nursing homes offer temporary to extended residence to seniors and patients with a broad range of medical conditions. Patients receive the highest level of care one can find outside a hospital for sub-acute, acute, permanent, chronic and temporary health problems. Area nursing homes, or skilled nursing facilities, have an interdisciplinary team of caregivers, including physicians, nurses, non-medical personnel, therapists, specialist and social workers. They form a collaborative system that gives proper and committed medical treatment to each patient.

The two most general types of nursing care are short-term and long-term care. Certain Athens skilled nursing facilities contain special care units that lend their expertise to specific medical issues, such as hypertension and Alzheimer’s.

Short-term nursing care helps patients recover from acute medical events through rehabilitative therapy. A large percentage of short-term patients were recently hospitalized for a stroke, heart attack, fall, surgery, aneurism or other acute medical crisis. This type of care is often an intermediate stage of recovery. Many short-term patients go on to pursue assisted living care, in home care or other less inclusive care options after being discharged from nursing care. Patients will have access to occupational, physical, respiratory and speech therapy based on a professionally designed path for recuperation.

Often the first component to a short-term patient’s recovery, hospital care can affect how quickly a patient fully recovers from his or her medical crisis. Quality hospital care can shorten the time needed in a nursing home and can help patients find the most reputable facilities in the area. Athens’ best health care services, based on patients’ hospital experiences, are delivered by Athens Regional Medical Center and St. Mary’s Hospital.

Long-term care gives extended medical treatment to patients with serious and chronic medical problems. Many patients seek long-term care because their current condition is in a state of decline. Caregivers must collaborate to deliver the responsive and extensive care required to properly treat patients with Alzheimer’s, cancer, cardiovascular and pulmonary problems, dementia, multiple sclerosis and general physical decline. Doctors and nurses are on call around-the-clock to perform medical procedures like medicine dosage adjustments, colostomies, tracheostomies, injections, wound care and intravenous therapy. Patients who cannot complete activities of daily living by themselves are assisted by non-medical personnel. Social workers give patients a level of companionship by spending time and getting to know them.

Nursing care costs in Athens are more than $1,300 per month higher than the Georgia state median and more than 10 percent higher than the national average. Semi-private SNF rooms cost $5,323 per month and private rooms cost $4,958 per month. Both homemaker services and home health aide in the area cost $3,241 per month. Adult day health care runs a monthly cost of $1,300. Assisted living facility rooms cost $2,500 per month.

Many seniors and their families have mis-representative impressions about nursing care. This makes them apprehensive about moving to a nursing home. Some feel that patients do not see an improvement in their health under skilled care. While some patients with progressive diseases do eventually need end of life care, many long-term patients are actually able to move out of their nursing home. The percentage of seniors who will need long-term care is very high. An estimated 70 percent of those over 65 will need nursing care in their lifetime. However, the duration of their stay is mainly dependent on the severity of their medical condition. Quality SNFs are often able to help long-term patients resume their former way of life.

Our site wants to inform seniors and their loved ones on the many complex issues relating to nursing care, so they can reach a decision on a nursing facility that intersects with their medical, financial and emotional needs.