Importance of Intimate Nursing Care
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February 11, 2021Importance of Intimate Nursing Care
The importance of intimate nursing care
Also known as “board and care,” intimate nursing care is a unique arrangement where caregivers live alongside residents. Ths close nursing care offers close, personal attention to loved ones with serious medical and memory issues.
Such proximity allows caretakers to monitor residents and respond quickly to their needs. The close bond between them ensures a higher level of support than in any assisted living facility.
Intimate nursing care vs. assisted living facilities
Assisted living facilities
Assisted Living Facilities (ALFs) provide a high standard of living. They are designed for seniors who are independent or require moderate assistance. Some assisted living facilities have over 150 residents; on any given day, the care ratio may be as high as 20:1. Health information is relayed in shifts as the staff do not live in the facility.
Typically, administrators at assisted living facilities do not have a medical background. They understand the laws and regulations governing these institutions, but not the medical conditions of the people living there.
Consequently, it’s not always conducive for seniors to stay in traditional assisted living if they have health problems. Though these facilities have nurses on staff, legal restrictions limit the care they can give. If a resident requires more attention, their families must hire an outside caregiver to come and look after them. This cost is additional to room and board. This often becomes a heavy financial burden.
Intimate nursing care
By contrast, intimate nursing care offers warm and undivided support. Residents experience continuous monitoring. Intimate nursing care facilities are also much smaller than ALFs; Verona Court exemplifies the former with no more than six residents per home, with two full-time caregivers who live on-site, ensuring residents experience a continuous care ratio of 1:3.
Intimate nursing care builds its routines around residents. Unlike assisted living, this type of nursing care doesn’t serve a fixed menu every day, deferring to what residents want when meal planning, whether it’s to accommodate people with dietary restrictions or just satisfy personal preferences. Because staff and residents share meals together, they quickly get to know what foods residents are eating successfully and what everyone enjoys. We modify meals based on people’s chewing and swallowing issues.
While staff at ALFs provide limited patient care, intimate nursing care staff administrators qualify as nurses and first-line providers. This helps them recognize medical issues, devise treatment plans, assess problems, and communicate with doctors.
Because it is a smaller environment with fewer residents, it requires fewer staff to provide the same level of support, affording patients and families 24-hour care at a fraction of the price.
Families play a vital role in intimate nursing care and are a part of every decision. Staff discusses their wishes and keeps them up to date on their loved ones, and families are encouraged to visit often, and join in special activities, holiday and birthday celebrations.