Nursing Homes

Nursing facilities, commonly called nursing homes, serve a small percentage of older adults. These facilities continue to be in the public-policy spotlight because of efforts to redefine their position in the long-term care system and because of ongoing efforts to enhance the quality of care they provide to their residents. Nursing facilities are defined here as facilities with three or more beds that routinely provide twenty-four-hour nursing care services to sick or disabled individuals; they may be certified by Medicare or Medicaid or licensed by the state as a nursing facility, and they may be freestanding or part of a larger facility. There are four major characteristics of nursing facilities: (1) facility characteristics, (2) resident characteristics, (3) financial characteristics, and (4) administration and staffing characteristics.