Risky business: Home sweet home or nursing home?

Risky business: Home sweet home or nursing home? 
American Nurse - Perspectives; by Christopher Hirschler, PhD, MCHES; 7/18/24 
In 2018, “Nursing homes: Good intentions, sad realities” chronicled Rita Hirschler’s experience in a nursing home after decades of being a private care nurse. In response to the ideas espoused in the article, namely that a person has a right to live and die in their home and risks are unavoidable whether one lives at home or in a nursing home, a commentator asked, “What is the solution?” ... According to the Center for Medicare Advocacy and Lu and Lu, ownership and sponsorship type have been shown to significantly impact the quality of care in nursing homes, with for-profits generally having lower staffing levels and poorer patient outcomes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Meyer, and KFF Health News say for-profit nursing homes now account for approximately 72% of the more than 15,000 U.S. nursing homes, and they provide varying levels of care to 1.3 million residents.