It all comes down to the three basic factors.
1. Is the management trustworthy and do they support the staff?
2. Does the staff treat the people that they are caring for appropriately?
3. Is there a family member or friend who can be an advocate?
There is probably a fourth, and more likely, the most important. Does the patient want to live? In a time where we have the capability, and often under the law, to keep a person alive even if the patient does not desire to do so, it is difficult to for some people to connect with them.
In looking for a nursing home or any other healthcare provider, it is a combination of doing the research on facilities’ independent reputations as well as touring the sites, not only with a sales rep., but during off-hours to see what the place is really like in the evenings and on weekends.
After what I have experienced with Mom, the hardest part is that, even that while we (children) feel that she is in the best care, it only takes one person with good intentions to do more damage. The staff doesn’t know her like we do. We just have to put our faith in their desire to do the best for their patients.