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Nursing Home Research
Researching different nursing homes and making a decision:
It is vitally important to be proactive when your loved one is getting older and to look at the different nursing homes available at an early stage before starting the process of choosing one. You should (must!) make an appointment to visit the nursing home before making a decision.
Contact your preferred nursing home as soon as possible. You will need to see if they have a place available and can meet your care needs. Waiting lists are, unfortunately, very common.
If the nursing home you want does not have space, you can ask to go on to their waiting list in the hope that they will have space when your family member one needs to go into care or you can look to going to a different one temporarily. You can then apply for a transfer when space becomes available in your preferred nursing home.
If you are assisting someone to apply for nursing home care, we suggest that you involve them as much as you can in the decision. Consider their preferences and personal values, the nearness of close family and other factors before choosing a nursing home.
How do I choose a nursing home?
Find out as much as you can about nursing homes in your area. The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has set out the National Quality Standards for Residential Care Settings for Older People in Ireland.
The HSE has also drawn up a checklist that may be useful to you in putting together your own questions. FairDealAssist has expanded this checklist to include additional items we feel are worthy of consideration. This checklist is available to clients of FairDealAssist.
The HIQA website also carries the reports of inspections of nursing homes and you should consult these before choosing a nursing home.
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