WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NURSING HOME AND HOSPITAL?

A nursing home is a public or a private residential facility that provides a high level of long-term personal care to patients who are either chronically ill or aged and are unable to taking care of themselves.

The primary job of a nurse whose job setting is at a nursing home is to cater for the elderly needs. Their job entails maintaining acceptable levels of professional hygiene, ensure that the elderly receive proper nutrition including checking their everyday vital signs, administering medication and drawing blood. There are three types of nurses who work in nursing homes. They are Nursing Assistants, Licensed Practical nurses and Registered nurses.

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Nursing assistants are the lowest tier group handle basic tasks where they are under the supervision of the Licensed Practical Nurses. They cater to the personal hygiene of the sick such as bathing them, changing their clothes, assisting those who need help heading to the bathroom or emptying the catheters.

Licensed Practical Nurses work under direct instructions and supervision from registered nurses where their duties are the same as the nursing assistants. License practical nurses also perform some advanced duties such as monitoring a patient’s blood pressure, respiration, giving injections to patients, changing bandages, etc. they are also responsible for the development of care plans for their patients.

The top tier nurses that are in these nursing homes are the Registered Nurses. They supervise the activities of the rest of the nursing staff as since responsibility lies in the overseeing of each patient’s health history. Registered nurses ensure that every individual patient under them receives the best available care. Their duties include the administering of oxygen, monitoring blood sugar levels and having consultations with the supervising physicians.

Most of the registered nurses working in these facilities advance into higher positions to become nurse administrators. They are responsible for the management of the entire facility where duties include the handling of budgets, managing staff and making sure the patients are getting the necessary care as per the state law.

To be eligible for working in a nursing home, a bachelor’s or master’s degree and a currently registered license plus several years of relevant experience.

So, what is the difference between a hospital and a nursing home?

Generally, hospitals are always referred to as treatment centers where the organization is largely under the management of professional people like physicians, doctors, surgeons, and nurses. Many nursing homes are known to be private and residential. They are mostly filled with the elderly who need extra care and a watchful eye. Hospitals are treatment facilities and can either be a private or public to where patients will head to seek treatment. They are 24-hr health centers where some of the patients get admitted for treatment of various illnesses. Outpatient and Inpatient are two of the services that are delivered by these hospitals. Outpatient people are treated in the hospital for consultation purposes only whereas inpatient services include treatment only after admission.

Nursing homes house people who do not need inpatient services but rather stay under care since they cannot live by their selves at home. A majority of the elderly are the ones who stay here. Nursing homes typically work with providing long-term care solutions to the patients. Staff hired to assist with the provision of medical care as well as occupational therapy like a hospital. They also include special care for some of the elderly people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Another difference between a nursing home and a hospital is that these homes can have their family members or relatives visit them at any particular day or time whereas hospitals have time limits hence visiting is at certain designated times.