Barrington Terrace of Boynton Beach

To go along with its strong overall grade, we awarded this nursing home a grade of A+ for our inspections rating. These inspection grades weigh several factors, including deficiencies and federal fines. You can learn more about each of these items by reviewing copies of nursing homes' inspection reports. Fortunately, although this facility had some minor dings on its inspection report, it had zero severe deficiencies. Severe deficiencies are those labeled as categories G through L. This means the government inspectors did not deem any of the deficiencies on this facility's report to pose an imminent threat to patient safety or health. Finally, this facility had no substantiated complaints this year from residents, which is an excellent sign.

This first-rate facility also performed well in the area of short-term care, where we awarded it a grade of A+. Only a small group of facilities fared better in this category. Our short-term care grades are vital for prospective residents in need of rehabilitation. Rehabilitation generally utilizes additional highly-skilled nursing services. Skilled nursing includes a broad spectrum of nursing services, ranging from registered nurses to physical and respiratory therapists, as well as other types of therapy. Fortunately, it looks like this facility employs registered nurses. Not all facilities employs these types of nurses. On the other hand, based on the data they provided, it does not look like the facility employs physical therapists. The last measure we assessed in this category is the number of residents who eventually returned home from the nursing home. We found that 6 percent of this nursing home's residents returned home as opposed to remaining at the nursing home on a permanent basis.

In addition, this facility received high marks in the area of nursing. As a result, it received one of our highest grades in that category with a score of A+. In calculating our nursing ratings, we factor in both the number of hours nurses spend with residents and the skill levels of the nurses. This nursing home provides 0.5 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Finally, our nursing grades also factor in quality-based assessments, such as avoiding major falls. This place performed well in this area. Avoiding major falls is typically a good indicator that a place has reliable quality controls in place. Major falls can many times be prevented if more nurses aids and better safety protocols are in place.

Moving on to the fourth area, this facility also performed admirably in the long-term care category. In fact, we gave it an A in that area. This wrapped up truly elite profile. When nursing homes receive a grade in this range in long-term care it generally means it's well-staffed and is an overall good place to live on a permanent basis. After looking at the quantity of care provided by nurses and other staff, we then looked at the nursing home's vaccination data. This facility vaccinated 100 percent of its residents for pneumonia. Vaccines are critical to keeping residents out of the hospital. Finally, this nursing home was able to limit hospitalizations. In fact, it had only 0 hospitalizations per 1,000 long-term resident days, which is an impressively low figure.