Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Nursing Home
Most families tour a facility, feel reassured by a clean lobby, and sign. The questions below are the ones that actually predict what the next year looks like. Take this list with you, ask everything, and write the answers down — the act of writing changes how carefully people answer.
VerifiedDo this before you visit anywhere
Walking in without the federal data means relying entirely on how the building feels. Look each shortlisted facility up first — it takes about ten minutes and changes the questions you ask.
- Check the three sub-ratings, not the overall star. Our guide to how the rating is calculated explains why the overall figure misleads.
- Note the nursing turnover figure. It is the most predictive number on the whole profile.
- Read the inspection detail, including severity of citations, not just how many.
- Compare against the alternatives in our table of all 25 nearby facilities, so you know where this one sits.
Staffing
Everything else in a nursing home depends on whether there are enough people, and whether those people stay.
- How many residents does one aide care for on the day shift, evening shift and night shift? Ask for all three.
- Is a registered nurse on site 24 hours a day, or on call overnight?
- How many agency or temporary staff did you use last week? Heavy agency use means residents rarely see the same face twice.
- How long has the director of nursing been in post? And the administrator?
- What is your average call bell response time? If nobody knows, that is the answer.
The unscripted version
Away from the tour guide, ask two or three care staff how long they have worked there. Years means the turnover figure is real and the building is stable. Months, repeatedly, tells you more than any statistic on the wall.
Care and daily life
- How often is the care plan reviewed, and are families invited? You have a right to attend.
- How many therapy sessions per week would this specific resident receive, and are therapists employed or contracted?
- Which doctor sees residents, how often, and can our own physician continue?
- What are the visiting hours, and can we visit at mealtimes? A facility confident in its food says yes.
- Can we see this week’s activity schedule, including the weekend?
- How do you handle complaints from families, and who do we escalate to?
Money and paperwork
These are the questions that prevent an unpleasant surprise in month nine.
- Does this specific bed convert to Medicaid when private funds run out, and will the resident stay in place? Get this in writing.
- What is the daily rate, and what is billed separately? Ask for the written schedule of ancillary charges.
- How much have rates risen in each of the last three years?
- Am I being asked to sign as a personal guarantor? Sign as agent or power of attorney for the resident, never in your own capacity. A facility cannot lawfully require a personal guarantee as a condition of admission.
- What notice would we get if you decided you could no longer meet the resident’s needs?
- May we take the admission agreement home to read before signing? Anyone who says no has told you something important.
Do not sign under time pressure
Hospital discharge planning creates urgency, and urgency is where bad agreements get signed. You are entitled to read the contract. If the choice is genuinely between signing now and a delayed discharge, ask the hospital case manager for options in writing — the pressure is often softer than it sounds.
What to notice while you are there
Visit on a weekday afternoon rather than a scheduled morning tour, and if you can, visit twice at different times.
Are residents out of bed?
People dressed, out of their rooms and occupied is a good sign. A quiet corridor of open doors and televisions is not.
Do staff use names?
Listen for staff addressing residents by name and crouching to eye level rather than talking over them.
How does it smell?
Not at ten in the morning, but at four in the afternoon. Persistent odour is a staffing problem, not a cleaning problem.
Are call bells ringing?
Count how long one rings while you stand there. It is the most honest measurement you can take.
What is on the plates?
Look at the food going out at a real mealtime, not the sample menu on the wall.
Do families visit?
A building with relatives around at odd hours is usually one that welcomes scrutiny.
Frequently asked questions
What is the single most important question to ask a nursing home?
How many residents does one aide look after on the night shift. Staffing at the least convenient hour tells you more about a facility than anything on a brochure.
Can I choose the facility, or does the hospital decide?
You choose. A discharge planner will usually suggest one or two names, but you are entitled to the full list of Medicare-certified facilities with beds available and to pick from it.
Should I sign the admission agreement as responsible party?
Sign as agent or power of attorney for the resident, not in your own personal capacity. A facility cannot lawfully require a third party to guarantee payment personally as a condition of admission.
Can I ask to see the state inspection report?
Yes. Facilities are required to make the most recent survey results available, and you can also read them on the federal profile. Ask for the plan of correction alongside it.
How many facilities should I visit?
Three or four is realistic under discharge pressure. Shortlist on federal data first so the visits are spent on genuine contenders.
What if we choose wrongly?
Residents can transfer, though moving a frail person is hard on them. That is exactly why the questions about Medicaid conversion and discharge limits matter so much at the start.
Related guides
pagefieldnursingrehab.com is an independent informational website with no affiliation to any facility. Checked 10 September 2026. Nothing on this page is medical, legal or financial advice.