Nursing Home Checklist

You should read How to Choose a Nursing Home in Illinois before using the Nursing Home Checklist.  We suggest you use the checklist when you have narrowed down your list of possible choices, and are actually visiting potential nursing home choices.  

We have tried to limit the questions to what you can realistically be expected to  accomplish during one or more visits.  There is room for notes about three homes.  The questions about staffing numbers will make it easier for you to compare the staffing of the homes you visit.

We have not included in the checklist, facts you should find out to avoid wasting your time visiting a home that does not meet your basic needs.  Most obviously, this includes information about payment.  If you are looking for a home that accepts Medicare or Medicaid, you should confirm this in a phone call before you visit.  For Medicaid, this includes whether there is a waiting list for a Medicaid bed, and whether the home will accept a resident on Medicaid who does not first pay a higher private rate for some period of time.  We discuss these issues in How to Choose a Nursing Home in Illinois.

Try to make your nursing home visits with a second person, preferably one who does not have an emotional attachment to the person you are looking for.  Each of you should have a copy of the checklist.  Two sets of eyes, and two brains, are better than one. Having another person accompany you lets you compare notes and remember more details.  

Click here to download Nursing Home checklist