Differences between Nursing home, Assisted Living, and LTC???

[Misslady113]

What are the differences between the three? Which of the three is the best\worst, hardest\easiest work enviroment? Are there any opportunites for CNA's besides these and hospitals?

[DreamyEyes]

LTC/Nursing home is basically the same thing from what I understand. Assisted living is *supposed* to be for residents who need assistance and not complete care like most residents in nursing homes. However, I have worked in an assisted living facility for almost 2 years now, and we have many residents who are complete care and require at least 2 aides to take care of them. Most assisted living facilities also have residents with dementia and Alzeheimer's, just as nursing homes do.

Out of all the 3, I wouldn't say one is harder than the other. It depends on the facility you work in. They are all going to be hard at times, but it's very rewarding.

You can also work in home care/private duty as a nursing assistant if you prefer more one-on-one care.

[fuzzywuzzy, CNA]

Nursing homes and assisted living facilities ARE LTC. LTC just means "long term care."

I've only ever worked in a nursing home, but I understand that assisted living is less regulated than a nursing home and although they're supposed to have more independent residents, that's not always the case. That is of course just a generalization. I'm sure there are good and bad ALFs just like there are good and bad NHs.

Other options include home health care agencies, hospices, and rehab centers (a lot of nursing homes actually take a lot of rehab patients in addition to their long term residents)- any place where the nurses are going to need assistants. I think those kinds of job are less available, but they probably have better working conditions.