For some patients with a terminal illness, their home is a nursing home. A hospice provider may have agreements with some nursing homes to provide care for patients in a nursing home.
If you are interested in hospice care in a nursing home, ask your local nursing home which hospices they work with.
In a nursing home environment, hospice helps patients, families, and nursing home staff by providing the following:
- Frequent visits by a hospice Registered Nurse to the nursing home.
- Consultations by a specialized hospice physician on an as needed basis.
- Management of pain and other symptoms. For example, problems breathing or swallowing.
- Updates for nursing home staff, patients and families about patients’ condition, symptoms, medications.
- Offering a plan on how to best care for patients’ medical needs during this phase of their illness.
- Spiritual and emotional support for both the patient and their family. In addition, this includes help for the family before and after the patient dies.
- Provide medications and supplies related to the patient’s terminal illness.
- Coordinating the patient’s care and medications across all of the patient’s medical providers. This includes the patient’s own doctors, hospice doctors, hospice nurses, hospice aides and all nursing home staff.
In a nursing home environment, the nursing home is responsible for the following:
- Communication and coordinating patient’s care with the hospice care provider.
- Monitoring the patient’s condition. Reporting any changes to the hospice.
- The standard daily care for patients provided by the nursing home.
- Normally scheduled medical care and examinations by the attending physician and medical director.
- Providing medications and supplies for care that is not related to the patient’s terminal illness (provided by hospice).
- Hospice benefits do not usually cover the cost of housing a patient in a nursing home or assisted living facility. However, these costs may be covered by Medicare benefits or other benefits you may have.
If your loved one resides in a nursing home or assisted living facility, you are entrusting professionals to provide the best care possible for your loved one.
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