Danger Zone: Unlock the Secrets of Nursing Home Medical Records and Protect Your Loved One by Dennis R. Steele, Edward C. Watters

From the Publisher

To achieve the best possible care for your loved one, you must play the watchdog. In this book, we show you some tricks nursing homes play to keep you - and government regulators - less than fully informed about patient care. You'll also learn some tips for outmaneuvering such attempts to keep you in the dark. And we'll teach you the handy method of using three-by-five cards to document what you observe. For patients whose situation requires more extensive documentation, in the back of the book we supply worksheets that break down the areas and items you need to monitor and have included charts you can use to do so.

Here's what sets this book apart from many others that provide advice about nursing home care: most other authors believe that if you get involved and work through the system and play nice, you'll be okay. We certainly believe in getting involved, and playing nice may work at some facilities - there's no sense in taking a confrontational approach if the staff is generally cooperative. But the truth is that at many facilities, you'll just get eaten alive playing nice, and you'll only be playing into the administrators' hands. Especially in the world of for-profit nursing homes, everything boils down to money, and the business model is simple: every expense the facility can avoid means more dollars to the bottom line. If you don't challenge the staff about lapses in care - or don't know how to - the home will have won the game, and your loved one could wind up in the danger zone of long-term care in America.

This book will help you level the playing field.

Danger Zone

Copyright 2003 Member of the Family, LLC

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