Dickinson Nursing Homes

At ASL, we intend to provide seniors and their loved ones with critical information about the many complex issues surrounding nursing care, so they can ultimately make the most educated decision possible when choosing a nursing home.

Dickinson nursing homes offer comprehensive levels of custodial, medical and social care to patients who have medical conditions that cannot be reasonably treated by a less inclusive form of care. Nursing homes, or skilled nursing facilities, deliver services that are as diverse as the patients’ conditions they treat. The principal objectives of nursing care are to aid patients who are recovering from operations or acute medical crises and to evaluate and manage patients with long-term health problems. Residents’ needs are met by a fully staffed team of caregivers, which includes physicians, registered nurses, certified nursing aides, social workers, food service workers, therapists, non-medical personnel and housekeepers.

Prospective patients can expect to pay $350 per month above the North Dakota median level for residency at a Dickinson skilled nursing facility. Private and semi-private SNF accommodations bear monthly costs of $6,287 and $5,922, respectively.

Many seniors are treated at home by unpaid family caregivers. Nursing homes understand the difficulties associated with these arrangements. Many facilities have services, like respite care and adult day health care, designed to relieve some of the stress borne by caretakers and patients. Respite care allows patients to get a change in environment through a short period of nursing care. This gives family caregivers the opportunity to replenish the energy, focus and commitment needed to continue providing quality care. Adult day health care is a great option for caregivers who have daily jobs and want their patients to receive medical and social care during the day.

The two main pillars of nursing care are short-term and long-term care. While many institutions are only equipped to admit patients for one type of general care, some facilities in the Dickinson area accommodate both.

Short-term care lends rehabilitative and therapeutic assistance to patients who are undergoing a period of recovery after being hospitalized for a stroke, fall, operation, cardiac arrest or other acute medical event. Patients must receive a doctor’s orders to seek nursing care to be admitted to a short-term facility. Hospital care usually precedes a nursing stay. Receiving treatment from skilled doctors and quality hospital staff can affect how long a patient will need to fully recuperate. The best health care center in Dickinson, based on patients’ hospital experiences, is St. Joseph’s Hospital & Health Center. Nursing professionals assess patients’ needs at every stage of their residency. The main objective of short-term care is to return patients’ functioning to their highest levels so they can either move back home or to a lower level of care. Various forms of rehabilitation, like physical, speech, auditory, respiratory and occupational therapy, are used to reach those goals. Most frequently, patients still need further once released from a short-term stay. Assisted living facilities and in home care are popular destinations for those patients.

Long-term care offers intensive treatment to patients with severe medical conditions like cancer, emphysema, diabetes mellitus, dementia, atherosclerosis, paraplegia and congestive heart failure. Every stage and component of a patient’s treatment is closely monitored by nursing staff. Nurses and physicians deliver around the clock supervision to keep patients in line with a personalized care plan and perform medical procedures like CPR, catheter care, ventilator management, wound care, enteral feeding tubes, medication adjustment and injections. Non-medical personnel tend to patient’s everyday comfort, living activities and hygiene. Social services like counseling, leisure activities and amenities, recreational opportunities and spiritual and religious opportunities aim to impart a high standard of living to all patients.

Transitioning to nursing care is not only difficult for patients but can be an emotional burden to family members. Even though many patients need skilled care and could not get by in their own home, oftentimes families will feel guilty they have had to resort to such measures. Moving to a nursing home may also bring up the possibility that patients with progressive or terminal illnesses may soon pass away. Before hand and in the case of a death in the family, nursing homes are committed to providing quality counseling services to aid family members through such a tough period. Grief counselors and bereavement assistance aids in keeping family member’s mental and physical health stable and offer support with certain financial decisions.