What Qualifies a Resident for Skilled Nursing Care?

Home Care
What Qualifies a Patient for Skilled Nursing Care?

Posted: August 3, 2022

Older adults can find many benefits in skilled nursing care. Depending on their physical and mental health conditions, a care facility can offer a variety of activities to strengthen skills needed in everyday life. Medical care and overall satisfaction with life are the top priorities for these expert teams of skilled nurses, who work round-the-clock to provide quality support for all residents.

If your loved one has been injured or lives with a health condition that provides daily challenges with completing tasks, they may benefit from assistance from a team of skilled nurses. There are many critical factors to evaluate before diving into the admission process of a skilled nursing care facility.

What Is Skilled Nursing Care?

Many people often assume that skilled nursing care facilities and assisted living communities are the same. While older adults can receive assistance with completing everyday activities in both settings, skilled nursing facilities focus on providing treatment services in a secure medical environment, whereas assisted living prioritizes residential services.

Skilled nursing care provides medical supervision following a hospital visit. This type of care consists of round-the-clock treatment for those recovering from an injury or continuing health conditions. The staff members at these facilities offer quality medical treatment tailored to each individual’s needs. Skilled nursing includes services such as monitoring of vital signs, medication administration and wound care, as well as physical and occupational therapy.

While short- and long-term treatment options are available, staff can assess each resident’s needs before rehabilitation begins to structure exercises around their goals and current limitations. Nurses monitor the progress made during this time to consider what exercises best suit their recovery process so they can continue these activities once they have returned home.

What Are Common Reasons for Admission to a Skilled Nursing Facility?

The most common reason for admission to a skilled nursing facility is the observation that recovery will require constant assistance at every stage of the process. Recovery is different for everyone, depending on their injuries or mental health. The top priority at skilled nursing facilities is the supervision of progress and treatment that each resident receives.

Skilled nursing is needed when older adults begin to face challenges in completing everyday activities without the help of another individual. These changes in capabilities can result from a physical injury that causes pain in movement or a health condition that makes chores forgettable. Chronic conditions typically require constant medical attention. Regulating medication and receiving treatment throughout the day is easier with the help of a skilled nurse.

Older adults can also benefit from services offered in skilled nursing facilities when enhancing their motor, cognitive or speech skills. Residents spend time strengthening their minds and bodies to relearn how to go about their day as they did before their condition.

Skilled nursing facilities offer continual attentive care for short- and long-term rehabilitation to help each resident fully recover from their current circumstances.

When to Consider Skilled Nursing Care

If your parent finds taking care of themselves a daily challenge, trained medical professionals can help care for their physical and mental needs. You may discover that their needs exceed the care you can provide each day. Rest assured this is a perfectly normal occurrence for most children of older adults.

Skilled nursing care can provide various treatment options for your family member as they recover from an injury, surgery or health condition. While these facilities can offer aid in many forms, the type of service an older adult receives depends on their individual needs.

Your loved one should consider skilled nursing care if they experience the following occurrences:

  • Require assistance 24 hours each day
  • Need help getting out of bed or transferring to a wheelchair
  • Have difficulty eating
  • Require complicated daily wound dressings
  • Use colostomy or bladder catheters
  • Need daily injections

What Qualifies as Skilled Nursing Care for Medicare?

What Qualifies as Skilled Nursing Care for Medicare?

After a hospital visit to treat an injury or health condition, residents may notice that doctors observe their status for three days to assess the appropriate treatment options for them in the future. If their physician recognizes the need for skilled nursing care, Medicare can help pay for short-term recovery at a facility. A short-term stay includes up to 100 days of daily treatment from skilled nurses, starting from the first day of inpatient status at the hospital.

Qualifications for skilled nursing care under Medicare typically revolve around a resident’s ability to care for themselves after treatment at a hospital. Suppose they face challenges with getting dressed, walking or eating on their own. In that case, a physician will likely offer more information about a trusted skilled nursing facility to ensure the resident receives proper rehabilitation to enhance these capabilities after recovery.

Services Covered by Medicare

Once your loved one receives the green light for admission to a skilled nursing care facility, assessing the costs of service can be an essential step to consider. Medicare can provide aid in paying for skilled nursing care services. Your loved one will be eligible to receive treatment with financial assistance if their doctor has directly stated their need to receive care from a facility.

Medicare will cover services such as:

  • Providing three meals a day
  • Administering medications prescribed for individual needs
  • Moving into a semi-private room
  • Medical equipment provided by the facility
  • Physical therapy (depending on individual needs)
  • Occupational therapy (depending on individual needs)
  • Speech therapy (depending on individual needs)
  • Ambulance transportation
  • Dietary counseling

What Are the Different Types of Skilled Nursing?

Skilled nursing includes three different forms of rehabilitation tailored for each resident’s needs. Depending on your loved one’s health conditions and how that may impact their movement or speech, they can partake in one or more of these practices to strengthen their skills.

Physical Therapy

This care helps residents recover from an injury, surgery or illness that has limited their mobility. The rehabilitation staff will prescribe different physical exercises to help build muscle and make moving easier for the resident. This type of care is temporary until the individual can move again independently.

Occupational Therapy

Nurses in these fields help seniors complete daily tasks such as getting dressed, moving on their own and eating. This practice allows older adults to strengthen their motor skills over time. Nurses can also help to refine a resident’s cognitive skills through memory training, coordination exercise and mental activities.

Speech Therapy

Speech-language pathology practices help older adults with patterns of speaking challenges. Older adults who benefit from these practices have health conditions or injuries that limit their speaking abilities. Nurses in this field can also help those who have difficulty swallowing properly.

Communication is a vital skill to have in the later stages of life, and nurses take great care to provide exercises to enhance these capabilities over a period of time.

Skilled Nursing Care at Someren Glen

At Someren Glen, we treat your loved one like family. Our skilled nursing care services ensure a comfortable stay and quality rehabilitation for those recovering from surgery, an injury or a health condition.

Someren Glen’s skilled nursing care allows residents to enhance their cognitive and motor skills and receive assistance with everyday activities. Normalcy and companionship are our top priorities for every resident as they begin to rediscover their capabilities through quality rehabilitation.

Assisted and independent living options are available for older adults without the need for around-the-clock medical care. This environment provides opportunities to grow and find new satisfaction in life through physical activities, opportunities to socialize with neighbors and family, trips to the surrounding areas and the comfort of nursing and rehabilitation services should the need arise.

Contact us today to start your loved one’s journey to recovery.

Skilled Nursing Care at Someren Glen

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Someren Glen Senior Living Community is owned and managed by Christian Living Communities and is a continuing care community. We offer Independent Living, Assisted Living, Memory Care as well as Skilled Nursing, Rehabilitation and In Home Senior Care. Someren Glen Senior Living Community is located in Centennial, Colorado and services the areas in and around Greenwood Village, Englewood, Columbine, Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Heritage Hills, Meridian, Dove Valley, Stonegate, Parker, Aurora, Lakewood, and South Denver. We also are an ideal senior community for those in the zip codes 80122, 80120, 80121, 80111, 80130, 80126, 80129, 80112, and 80124.


Someren Glen adheres to all regulations as written in the Americans with Disabilities Act and The Fair Housing Act and accordingly prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, familial status, disability (whether it be mental or physical), or sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation).