Nurses living in their home with patients. . .

[rl589092]

Hello all, this thread is more for the experienced RN's out there. . .

I heard from some fellow co-workers that some nurses now a days are doing their own assisted living facilities. Basically they buy a very large house (6+ bedrooms) and turn it into a mini assisted living. For example there would be a nurse or tech always on duty, 24hrs a day, and they reside there. Bedrooms are custom as far as medical concerns go like installing of call bells, etc. I also heard, the government will give you funds and grants to do this.

My question is have any of you ever heard of nurses doing this? Where basically they rent out their home to the elderly and take care of them. I heard it's good for people who don't want to quite go to a nursing home, or a real assisted living community.

- Ryan

[HappydayRn]

I used to work in one as a caregiver, we were staffed by nursing students. The owner was a geriatric and parish nurse. Five patients in a house, we had three dogs a garden out back and everyone had home cooked meals. I think the concept is ideal for our older folks. They still feel like they have a real home and they get a lot of one on one attention that they might not in a busy nursing home. The staff ratio could be 2:4 on really good days. It was called an adult foster home in this state. The owner did not live there but visited regularly. We had live in managers, again a nursing student.

A nurse on my unit runs a similar house although I do not think she lives there.

[Gingilly]

I am considering this option as there is a huge house empty house next door to me. The owner is a elder family friend and lives with her kids a few cities over. The property has been abandoned several years and I haven't been in it but its got 2 stories and a a front side and back yard. It would be considered an adult residential facility care and theres a license required to operate one. This link might be a good jump off for you Residential Care and Assisted Living: State Oversight Practices and State Information Available to Consumers .This is where I'm looking for classes

California ARF Administrator Initial Certification and Adult residential facility ARF certification and .: Community Training Connection :. .This is my states policy and procedures manual http://www.dss.cahwnet.gov/getinfo/pdf/arfman.PDF. Hope this gets you started on the legalities. My understanding at this pt is there was state funding, but in CAlifornia its now more difficult o get so private pay is more common. Any way you look at it I think its a great blend of lifestyle and work, a nice throw back to community care and can be profitable if you have good business sense. Good luck to you and let me know how it goes...

Jen

[tencat]

What an intriguing idea......hmmmm.......my non-nursing husband even thought it was a great idea when we discussed it after reading these posts here....must ponder......It sounds like such a good thing for our elderly folks. Though I don't know if I could actually run such a place....