A nursing home is a skilled nursing facility for the elderly, young but mentally disabled and the veterans who do not need to be hospitalized and can no longer be cared for at home. It is the highest form of care for older adults outside of a hospital. According to Robert F. Bornstein, Mary A. Languirand (2001) nursing home provides custodial care for those who have no one to look upon at all time. Specially trained and registered professionals provide various services that cannot be offered in hospitals. They include Personal care: feeding, dressing and bathing, Social and recreational activities, Monitoring of medication, physical and mental therapy, and 24-hour emergency.
Carolyn J. Humphrey (1998) stated that it is the ultimate decision for the family to decide whether to place you under the nursing home care. However If I cannot take care of myself at home and am at a point where I depend entirely to someone for everything I do, a nursing home is the only option I would prefer. In a nursing home I will get all the attention I need. In case I develop a mental disability or a chronic disease due to old age, I would prefer a nursing home care since it has the specially trained individual, such as therapists, and it will mitigate the cost unlike when you are at home. In my old age I would prefer to be in a group of people of the relatively same age, same beliefs and cultures and share universally socialized. This will reduce the chances of boredom and the feeling of being an outsider like when you at home where you do not share such virtues.
Reference
Robert F. Bornstein, Mary A. Languirand (2001) When Someone You Love Needs Nursing Home, Assisted Living, or In-Home Care: The Complete Guide
Carolyn J. Humphrey (1998) Home Care Nursing Handbook. Aspen publishers
