Professional Caregiver Blog – from CCG

We recently received a phone call from a new Assisted Living administrator that was preparing to head to a local nursing home to evaluate a potential new resident for the first time. This administrator, being new to her position, wanted to clarify the types of things she should be looking for during a pre-admission appraisal.

Here is a brief list of information you need to collect and/or review as part of a pre-admission appraisal:

1. Current physician’s report, including the physician’s primary and secondary diagnoses
2. Tuberculosis test results
3. Documentation of prior medical services and history (e.g., surgeries, etc.)
4. Basic current health information, such as height, weight, and blood pressure
5. General physical condition, including vision, hearing, speech, and walking with or without assistance
6. Record of current prescribed medications
7. Ability to self-administer medications, or amount of assistance required
8. Information related to prohibited or restricted medical conditions, such as insulin injections, oxygen administration, etc.
9. Amount of assistance needed with activities of daily living, including bathing, dressing, toileting, transferring, continence, and eating
10. Special dietary requirements
11. Ambulatory status, including the use of ambulatory aides or devices (e.g., wheelchair, walker, cane)
12. Mental condition (depression, memory impairments, dementia, mild cognitive impairment, etc.)
13. Behavioral issues (wandering, elopement, aggression)
14. Activity preferences

Keep in mind that this is only a brief list of the things to evaluate during a resident appraisal, but starting with these keypoints will have you on your way to a thorough pre-admission appraisal that will hopefully lead to a successful admission.

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