Elizabethtown Nursing Homes Information

While registered nurses, certified nursing assistants, physicians, specialists and therapists are responsible for medical treatment, nursing homes are also residential care facilities that tend to patient’s everyday comfort and psychological health through the efforts of food service workers, social workers, recreational planners and non-medical personnel.

Monthly costs for residency at an Elizabethtown skilled nursing facility fall slightly above the national average and over $200 per month above the Kentucky median level. Semi-private and private SNF bedrooms bear monthly costs of $6,448 and $5,977, respectively.

Nursing homes are aware that many patients receive in home care from family caregivers. They provide certain services that help promote a balanced relationship between patient and family caregiver and relieve stress for both parties. Respite care offers short periods of nursing care that are beneficial for both sides. Adult day health care is used by family caregivers that cannot adequately care for their patients due to work obligations. Besides medical treatment, adult day health care also has a robust social component that allows patients to pursue recreational activities with peers.

Certain nursing facilities in the Elizabethtown area contain expert care programs for patients with a particular health issue, like diabetes. However, the two broadest forms of nursing care are short-term and long-term care.

Short-term care allows patients time to recover from a cardiac arrest, stroke, aneurism, fall, surgery or other medical trauma. Both physical and cognitive rehabilitation is given to patients who usually come directly from a hospitalization. They are cleared to be admitted to a short-term stay on the basis of a doctor’s prescription. The finest hospital care can bolster the effects of the care they receive at a nursing facility. The best acute health care in Elizabethtown, based on patients’ recent hospital experiences, is found at Hardin Memorial Hospital. When patients arrive at a short-term facility, they are evaluated by nursing professionals who determine a personalized path of recovery for patients to follow. This path often consists of occupational, respiratory, speech, auditory or physical therapy to repair damaged mobility, functions or strength. At a doctor’s discretion, patients who are deemed ready to leave nursing care may very well need further medical care. Discharge planners advise these patients on local assisted living or in home care that can help patients achieve full recuperation.

Long-term care offers medium to extended-term health maintenance for patients who have chronic, aggressive, progressive and serious illnesses like dementia, congestive heart failure, cancer, peripheral vascular disease, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Patients are watched closely by staff that are prepared to deliver responsive forms of treatment. Doctors and nurses are available for 24 hour care and to perform medical procedures like medication adjustment, wound care, enteral feeding tubes, dialysis, injections and indwelling urinary catheter care. Non-medical personnel look after patients’ custodial care needs and basic hygiene. Social workers address patients’ quality of life by trying to help patients build meaningful relationships, with both other patients and caregivers, that promote social well-being.

The process of finding quality nursing care is challenging for many seniors and their families. The high cost of nursing care is a barrier that is rightfully confusing and disheartening. Patients who are not eligible for supplemental government assistance, which is around half of all nursing residents, need to privately finance the costs. For some, this can mean cracking open a retirement savings account or 401k. Others may borrow against their assets. If patients end up needing years of nursing care, families may be financially ruined by nursing care. When this happens, patients become eligible for Medicaid benefits. It is a sad fact that senior care costs often blindside families when they least expect it. Proper planning and preparation can help prevent these types of situations.