The ratings look at the number of staff compared to the number of residents and how many of the staff are trained nurses.  Many of the nurses in nursing homes are not registered nurses. A substantial number of nurses working in nursing homes have a license as a licensed practical nurse, “LPN.”  These nurses have much less training than registered nurses.

The ratings take into account the differences in how sick the nursing home residents are in each nursing home since that will make a difference in how many staff are needed. A nursing home with insufficient staff is much less likely to be able to provide the quality care and attention necessary to prevent residents from falling and from developing bedsores.

Medicare explains that the Five-Star Quality Rating System is not a substitute for visiting nursing homes. When evaluating whether a nursing home will meet your needs, it is important to use the Five Star Rating together with other sources of information.

The two lowest rated nursing homes in Volusia County as of the date of this article were Woodland Terrace Extended Care in Deland and Sandalwood Nursing Center in Daytona Beach. Both of these nursing homes were rated only one out of five stars.

While the national average for percent of high risk, long stay residents who had bedsores is 12% Woodland Terrace’s percentage was 42%. Similarly the national average for low-risk patients is 2% and Woodland Terrace’s percentage was 23%.

For staffing standards, Woodland Terrace ranked two stars out of five based on the number of staff hours per resident. While the average number of CNA hours in Florida for each resident is three hours, Woodland Terrace’s was one hour, 34 minutes. This means the nursing assistants at Woodland Terrace had substantially less time to turn and reposition their assigned residents.  Thus, it is no surprise that more Woodland Terrace residents had bedsores.

When evaluating whether or not a nursing home is best for your needs or whether a nursing home is providing good care to someone you love, the information in this rating system can be very helpful. For more information and for the ratings for each nursing home in Volusia County you can go directly to the Medicare website.