30 questions to ask when touring a nursing home

Print this out or keep it on your phone. Ask the administrator and the director of nursing, but try to talk to a few residents and family members too. Their answers are usually the most honest ones you'll get.

Staffing

1. How many residents does each nurse aide look after on day shift, evening shift and overnight? What about weekends?
2. Is a registered nurse in the building around the clock?
3. How long have the administrator and the director of nursing been here?
4. How often do you use agency or temporary staff?
5. Do the same aides usually care for the same residents?

Vague answers on staffing are an answer in themselves.

Care and safety

6. What do you do to prevent falls and pressure sores?
7. How often is a doctor or nurse practitioner in the building?
8. How do you care for residents with dementia, and how do you keep antipsychotic use down?
9. How long does it usually take to answer a call light?
10. Which hospital do residents go to, and how often do they end up back there?
11. What came up in your last inspection, and what did you change?
12. How do you handle infection control and outbreaks?

Daily life

13. Can residents choose when they get up, eat and bathe?
14. Can I see this week's menu and activity calendar?
15. Can you handle special diets and food preferences?
16. Is there a resident council? A family council?
17. What are the visiting hours?
18. Are rooms shared, and how do you match roommates?
19. Can residents bring their own furniture and belongings?
20. Is there a safe place to go outside?

Rehab stays

21. How many days a week is therapy, and for how long each day?
22. How many short-stay patients go home afterward?
23. Who plans the discharge, and when does that start?

Money and paperwork

24. What's the daily rate, and what costs extra?
25. Do you take Medicaid, and can a resident keep their room after switching to it?
26. Which insurance and Medicare Advantage plans are you in network with?
27. Is the arbitration agreement optional? (At a certified home it has to be.)
28. What's your bed-hold policy if a resident goes to the hospital?
29. How do you handle complaints, and how fast?
30. Could I speak with a couple of families whose relatives live here now?

If the home hesitates on that last one, notice it.