Will a nursing home accept my mom if she is on IV antibiotics?

Good question. I don't think so. The nursing home would have to have a RN trained and certified in IV administration especially if it is a PICC line or mediport. I am not sure they have the staff for it either, as usually a RN supervises everyone and gives out medications too for their wing. I know LPN's cannot give medication via IV in my state and only RN's can care for an IV period. NH often don't have a surplus of RN's. I am thinking her doctors will keep her hospitalized until the IV antibiotic course is complete. Also, IV's of any sort need care - dressing changes, flushing, troubleshooting and usually are given via a medication pump which most nursing homes will not have nor want to expense money for the pump and it's required maintenance contract. All IV supplies are an expense for the nursing home and they may not keep stock of those kind of supplies as they have expiration dates and would have to be replaced. Plus, what would happen if the IV stopped working? I haven't ever saw an IV team of RN's in a nursing home for troubleshooting. Who would replace it if it was a peripheral line?  The patient may pull the line out as well and would need supervision. 
So no I would think not. Again hopefully her IV abx will get finished and switched to by mouth abx. With MRSA she may need a private room until the infection is clear 
but I am not sure about that either. 
You could go to the CMS website and research nursing home regulations for IV's as a resource. 
Good luck! I wish you and your mom well.

My MIL had MRSA and had to complete treatment in the hospital before she could be transferred to a NH. I do not know if that's the policy today. This was about 8 years ago. When my husband was diagnosed with MRSA a couple of years ago an infectious disease dr told him that one could pick up MRSA almost anywhere. From a shopping cart, someone's home, on a flight etcetera. At one time it was thought that MRSA was an infection picked up only in a hospital. Now it is more widespread. It's a terrible infection and sometimes hard to control. I know I wouldn't want my loved one to be exposed to MRSA so it would make sense not to accept a new patient knowing they had MRSA. Most elders would be very vulnerable to it. I hope your moms treatment is a success.

Thank You for your posts! The Elderly Phych unit has almost finished her I.V. treatment in the hospital. On Tuesday she will move to the NH. She will be out of isolation this morning (Friday). The hospital said no I.V. 's in the nursing home. They are not set up for that. You all were right!

I'm not sure about that one. Anytime I've ever visited a nursing home, I've never seen anyone who was on an IV outside of a hospital setting

NH does not want to take the chance of the infection possibly spreading to others and they could be held responsible.

My mother, who resides in a NH, had an IV for meds for pneumonia last year. But she was already a resident.

I live in Az... there are multiple skilled nursing/rehab centers capable of handling IV antibiotics. We also have LPN's that are IV certified. I worked in many facilities in my 26 years working with seniors. Sometimes the cost of the medication is prohibitive or they are worried about behaviors. Best of luck to you and your mom.

Tough call here. MRSA is a VERY bad infection and not all Skilled Nursing Homes may be able to handle it or have the strong meds on hand to treat it. You wouldn't want it to get into the blood stream because it can turn into sepsis, which can turn deadly.

In Massachusetts IV's are used in nursing home settings. LPN's can administer too. However, the MRSA is the issue . Most homes do not accept patient with active infection.
But IV's done in nursing home setting rather than send resident to unfamiliar and confusing hospital .

Well,yesterday my mom moved to the skilled nursing unit in a rest home. She still has the I.v. port in her hand. She also still has MRSA. She will be getting 3 more days of the antibiotic by this I.v. in the nursing home. So now we all know. Thanks for all the answers and love folks!