Long-term care: Role of the nurse

Long-term care is a type of service where individuals can receive assistance with their care while living safely and as independently as possible. Long-term care includes nursing centers, formerly called nursing homes, and assisted living facilities. As the nurse, you’ll provide patient-centered care for your long-term care residents.

Alright, so, nursing centers provide a high level of 24-hour care for residents with conditions that limit or completely impair their ability to safely perform activities of daily living, or ADLs, like dressing and toileting.

Services usually include medical and nursing care, such as medication management; self-care assistance; tailored meal preparation and feeding assistance; and recreational activities, like music therapy.

Additionally, residents may receive routine and emergency dental services, as well as rehabilitation services like physical and occupational therapy. Typically, residents reside permanently in nursing centers; however, some residents may reside in a nursing center temporarily as they regain function after a serious injury or illness.

On the other hand, assisted living facilities offer a more independent, home-like environment for individuals who are relatively autonomous but are not able to live independently. Typical services include laundry, meal preparation, and housekeeping, as well as medication administration and personal care assistance like bathing and dressing, as needed.

Residents usually have their own rooms and can keep their personal belongings, and they can attend group dining and participate in shared social activities, like exercise classes or book clubs. Lastly, memory care is a type of specialized assisted living where individuals with Alzheimer disease and other types of dementia can receive care in a more secure environment with a focus on individualized cognitive support and structured routines to support quality of life.

When caring for your long-term care residents, your goals of care include collaborating with the healthcare team to provide high-quality care and maintain a safe environment.

For your residents in a nursing center, you’ll provide direct care, including conducting comprehensive and focused assessments; administering medications; and providing education on topics like safe use of assistive devices. For your residents in an assisted living facility, you’ll focus on promoting independence while providing support based on their functional abilities. For instance, you may provide bathing assistance and encourage your resident to wash their face while you wash their back; or you might help set up their meals so they can feed themselves independently.