Mom was intubated with Covid and now needs a Skilled Nursing Facility: what does that mean?
Sep 23, 2022A Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) is a place that provides specialized care to patients after they leave the hospital.
Back in days gone by, we all knew that a hospital stay would usually be about a week or two. But these days, insurance companies have limited the time allowed to remain in hospitals, but the patients still need a great amount of care that average families can't provide. So, SNF's fill the gap by providing specialized care to these patients to get them ready to go home. Typically the caregiving lasts from about two to four weeks, depending on the condition of the patient.
Our mom spent four days in ICU and another week in the high care wing of the hospital. From there, she was transferred to a SNF.
Something that commonly happens after an elderly person has been intubated for days is that they now need to learn how to swallow again. They aren't safe going straight home if they are not able to consume liquids without aspirating the fluid in their lungs. They can get pneumonia or even drown if the liquid goes into the lungs instead of the stomach. Finding proper care is critical at this point in the recovery process.
In our situation, Mom was not only set back from her bout with Covid, but especially from the intubation, and we needed to find skilled nurses that could take care of her after her turbulent week in ICU.
Skilled nurses are those beautiful angels who provide essential care for patients who cannot care for themselves. They administer medication, see to it that the correct diet is followed, provide for bodily needs, and provide oversight for therapies such as speech therapy, swallowing therapy, exercises, walking, bathing, showering and transferring of the patient from the bed to a chair. They have hundreds of patients to care for. They each are assigned a wing of the unit and manage the incessant needs of patients. [I am truly in awe of these beautiful people and I cannot express enough gratitude to them for helping my mom at the worst time in her life. They are literally miracles in track shoes and I am so thankful for all of them who helped our family.]
In order to find a place to care for Mom, the ICU staff provided me with a listing of various facilities in the area that would be able to take her, given her exposure to Covid. Multiple nursing facilities flat-out refused to allow her into their facility as they didn't have the proper containment rooms in their care center.
I didn't want to pick a place based solely on a list or based on internet photos, so I physically went to each facility and interviewed the appropriate staff members. I wanted to know she would be safe and cared for, so an in-person visit was the only way I could be satisfied. I read reviews of each center online, but I wanted to meet people and get a vibe for how things were done and how people were treated.
We live in Arizona, a retirement haven, and the good news around here is that there is some pretty steep competition between facilities and it is important to them to provide the best care possible. They like to remain at the top of the lists for best care and they take pride in what they do. The bad news, however, is that at the time we needed to find a placement for Mom, there was a severe nursing shortage. So even the best facilities were understaffed.
This created a need in our family to be sure that Mom was getting the care she needed. So, my brother and I made a point to be there every day. I have to hand it to my brother as he was there every single morning and stayed with her through lunch. I did my best to make afternoon visits and stay a few hours as well. We really felt it was important to be there for her to pay attention to the little details. My brother stayed right on top of her medications, charging her hearing aids, and being sure that the therapists were showing him exactly every step of how to teach her to swallow again and how to walk again after such an ordeal. My wheelhouse was shampooing her hair, sponge baths, manicures and massage. Between the nursing staff and the two of us, we felt like Mom was getting the best care that was available.
We were surprised to see how quickly she responded, and I really think our being there every day had a lot to do with her recovery. At 88 years old, everything was an uphill battle for her. But she is a trooper and a fighter, so she was able to make it home in about six weeks. (It would have been sooner but there were several more Covid outbreaks while she was there and no one was allowed to go home until they were medically cleared and safe to leave.)
It was a happy day for Mom to go home again to her familiar surroundings. We were so grateful for the In-home nurses that came next-in-cue to work with her doing exercises to improve her mobility. When a senior stays in bed for weeks, walking becomes a very difficult task. It is a full-on effort to use those feet again. I must commend my brother for keeping right on top of all those activities and getting Mom to do the hard stuff of relearning to walk and get around, which previously, she so effortlessly had done. I am so proud of her for doing the hard work of recovering: it is not for the faint of heart, that is for sure!
Things are going well for Mom as she is getting stronger every day. She works out and walks and is doing an amazing job at getting back to the business of life. I'm super proud of her for putting in the effort it takes to get well, and so grateful to my brother for constantly helping her to overcome.
If you are looking for a SNF, Skilled Nursing Facility, some things to keep in mind are
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patient-to-nurse ratio
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covid restrictions and protocols
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reputation in the community
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written reviews by actual patients, not PR guys
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good food: when the food isn't good, moral gets really low and the patients don't do as well. (We brought in food from Mom's favorite restaurants and that really helped with her outlook.)
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Visiting hours
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How many visitors are allowed at one time
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Ask to take a tour of the entire facility, not just the public areas. You want to look for top-notch care, not just the pretty lobby. Find out if the patients are satisfied.
We here at Aging Agendas want to provide you with information that can help you when you are facing a life change with a loved one. Please let us know if we can help you find the information you need. Check out our website for more help on these topics.
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