Services
We have care homes across Leicester and the Midlands and this is one of the most common questions we hear.
Care homes and nursing homes offer largely the same services. However, nursing homes go a step further to provide monitoring of medications, personal care, and emergency care.
Ideally, nursing homes are the best place for elderlies with underlying conditions that affect their mobility or require special attention.
The services offered in a care home are not as intensive. They might include help with eating, dressing, going to the toilet and taking medication. Some care homes can also go as far as offering social activities and support like having games or going out for trips.
However, care homes don’t have the medical capacity to attend to emergencies or take care of critically ill patients.
Staffing
The other main difference between care homes and nursing homes is the staff. Care homes have qualified care assistants. The assistants are managed by a manager who in most cases, is someone who has risen through the healthcare ranks but is not a registered or a qualified nurse.
Nursing homes enrol the care assistants but also have trained and registered nurses on call to help in recognising problems and helping the sick patients. Some of the nursing homes go as far as having a part-time doctor who comes to perform exams and tests on the patients to ensure proper care and medication is provided.
It’s also common for nursing homes to have experts in dementia care like registered mental health nurses and other related fields like physiotherapy to cater to all the needs of the residents and patients.
Equipment
Nursing homes and care homes are also equipped differently. Because nursing homes cater to residents with medical needs, they often have special beds, mobility equipment, ventilators and others.
Most residents in care homes are usually capable and don’t require special beds or equipment. However, some of the residents might require minor adjustments to improve their living conditions like a bed assist bar or a wheelchair for the older residents that might have problems with walking.
Residents
Nursing homes provide care to residents with complex medical conditions. Also, nursing homes are not only for the elderly but for all patients that require 24-hour monitoring by medical professionals.
Care homes are designed to provide care and support to the elderly most of whom don’t have any underlying conditions but require assistance completing daily tasks. In some cases, the residents might have some minor health conditions which they might be taking medication for but don’t need 24-hour monitoring—just assistance like reminding them to take medicines on time.
The Takeaway
From these differences, it’s easy to see that nursing homes and care homes are worlds apart. The facilities are designed to meet different needs and care. Knowing these differences is critical when choosing which of the two facilities would offer better care to your loved ones.