Care of the Nursing Home Patient

THE expanding role of nursing homes in patient care necessitates their recognition as an integral component of the health care system. Although collectively nursing homes in the United States have 1.5 million beds and a budget of more than $40 billion, they have been perhaps the most misunderstood and inappropriately used health care resource in the nation, often shunned by both clinicians and society. The absence of hospital technology and the limitations of staffing at nursing homes have created the challenge and opportunity for physicians and others on the health care team to combine cost effectiveness with astute and compassionate….