Choosing a Nursing Home

Library Journal

Guides to nursing-home selection have become an important part of consumer health literature; over a million people enter long-term care facilities each year. Goldsmith (health policy and management, Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst) visited nursing homes nationwide. He provides a detailed checklist for individuals and families to use in evaluating nursing homes, along with sample admissions forms, agreements, and fee schedules. Perhaps most useful are the profiles of nursing home staff members--from the administrator and medical director to activities and social services staff, nursing aides, and assistants--and how they contribute to the quality of the facility. Appendixes include a resource list and bibliography for professional and popular material. Highly recommended.-- Karen McNally Bensing, The Benjamin Rose Inst. Lib., Cleveland