What are basic steps in getting an elder into either assisted living or a nursing home?

This process can change from state to state and from community to community but this is the basic process:
Physical Assessment: A history and physical form must be completed by the resident's health care provider. Obtain the form from the facility. This must be done no more than thirty days before the resident enters the facility.
Resident Agreement: Before your older relative moves in, the Resident Agreement must be signed. This contract lists all the services your relative will receive, as well as the fees.
Functional Assessment: Within 30 days after admission, the manager and/or a nurse at the facility must complete a form that documents an assessment of the individual's ability to perform daily activities, such as bathing, dressing and eating, the level of support and assistance needed, and the person's social strengths and needs.
Before signing the Resident Agreement, read it very carefully. Be sure you understand the services, costs and conditions described in this contract. It is recommended that you also have an attorney
review it.
Service Plan: This document, which must be completed within 30 days after admission, details the services that are to be provided to the resident. The service plan describes exactly how each service will be provided, when it will be provided, and who will provide it. The purpose of the document is to ensure that each resident's individual needs are met in a manner that promotes independence, dignity and privacy. The plan is updated every six months, or more often if necessary.
A TB test is usually required as well as other tests mandated by each state.
Good luck...

Can a Physician write an order to have someone placed?

My mother-in-laws doctor just told us that she shouldn't be living on her own any more. The easy part was finding a good place for her, the HARD part was getting her used to the idea of moving. I swear if it hadn't been for her falling and breaking her hip, we would've had to blast her out of that house with dynamite. After much kicking and screaming about it, she picked her face up off the ground and said okay. She still laments how she hates the place, but she does admit it's what was needed.

The three night rule is a federal requirement if you want traditional Medicare to pay for a skilled rehab stay. For residential placement it is best to contact the admission office and ask what is required. Often they will want a TB test and financial disclosure to see if private funds will cover the cost or if Medicad application will be needed.

In my state you have to have a three day hospital stay and at our hospital nursing home people go to hospital and find out who would be available to go to rehab in a nursing home and then try to sell their nursing homes but mostly a social worker will visit a pt. or their family to ask what plans are made for discharge if you -the family do not hear from a social the first or second day of admission call them because some pts. will say they do not need rehab and not tell their family-my husband use to do this without my knowing about when indeed he needed rehab. Then the hospital will call nursing homes you are interested in and they the nursing home will evaluate the pt. and decide if they want the pt. and if it is through medicare or if you have medicaide or private insurance and if they want the pt. they will usually call the family-we were turned down by the nursing home my husband usually went to once because they said the meds. were too expensive but a year later they took him when he was on the same meds-they had empty beds that time.Then the social worker will arrange for transportation to the nursing home-hospitals push pts.ut as fast as they can -my husband was a diaibetic and was discharged after he got his noon insulin without lunch one day and he had worked there 21 years and I had worked there 29 years. It is best to use a nursing home near where you live that has liberal visiting hours so you can check often on your loved ones-no one nursing home is perfect,

FANTABULOUS! Thank You Secret!

Visit facilities until you find one you are comfortable with, ask for a tour. Fill out an application. Have a Physician admit the person, either through a hospital stay, or in some cases, from home (saying greater care is necessary). Wait for opening, then start packing. However, it's not always simple. You can also talk to Admissions and ask for their recommendations and suggestions. Does that help?