Norfolk Nursing Homes

Norfolk nursing homes administer high levels of medical and social care to seniors and patients with the need for either rehabilitation or extended-term health management. Nursing professionals offer periodic to 24 hour health monitoring and evaluation through its dedicated team of nurses, physicians, nursing aids, specialists, therapists, social workers and non-medical caregivers. Also called skilled nursing facilities, nursing homes often contain special care units for expert care for certain medical conditions. Most nursing homes offer either short-term care or long-term care in addition to specialized care, although some offer the two most general types of care.

Short-term care concentrates on helping patients recuperate from strokes, heart attacks, aneurisms, falls or other acute medical crises. Nursing personnel will first map out a prescribed plan of recovery and help patients follow that plan through physical, occupational, respiratory, speech and other types of care, on a prescribed basis. After short-term rehabilitation some patients still need further medical treatment. They often seek assisted living care, in home care or senior apartments. Fully recovered patients resume their normal lives. Long-term nursing care is for patient with moderate to serious mental or physical health problems. They may have Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, dementia, diabetes, cardiovascular problems or general physical and mental decline. Physicians and nurses deliver continuous care and perform complicated medical procedures to maintain and improve the health of long-term patients. The procedures include routine blood work, administering intravenous fluids and colostomies, wound care and medicine dosage like insulin levels for diabetes patients. Non-medical caregivers and social workers help with activities of daily living and try to keep patients as independence and active as possible.

Most short-term nursing stays are necessitated by an acute medical event and consequent hospitalization. Hospital stays are important because they are the first part of the patient’s eventual recovery. During hospital care a doctor will decide if a nursing stay should be required. Specialists and physicians are usually knowledgeable about area nursing homes and are valuable resources for recommendations. The best Norfolk health care services can be found at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital and Sentara Leigh Hospital.

Norfolk skilled nursing facility costs are above the national average but slightly below the Virginia state median. Semi-private and private SNF rooms bear a monthly cost of $5,947 and $6,935, respectively. Homemaker services, home health aide and adult day health care have monthly costs of $3,575, $3,623 and $1,170, respectively. Assisted living facility accommodations cost $3,395 per month. Medicare and other insurance plans have certain limitations and only cover a small percentage of the cost of nursing care. Medicare will only provide coverage for up to 100 days of a SNF stay in one benefit period. The first 20 days are fully covered, but the last 80 days are subject to a daily copayment fee.

Our site wants to give seniors and their patients as much information as possible on all the complex matters surrounding skilled nursing care so they can find an institution with quality facilities and caregivers that meet their medical, financial and emotional needs.