Four Seasons of Washington Nursing and Rehab

This nursing home's overall score was bolstered by the fact that it has received favorable government inspections in recent years. We gave them a strong score in this category, with a grade of B+. This is a much better grade than the facility's overall score. Arguably the most significant factor we look at in calculating our inspection ratings is deficiencies. Deficiencies can be found on a facility's inspection reports. Places with better scores in this area most likely avoided the most severe deficiencies involving health risks or even death. While this facility had a few minor dings on its inspection report, it had no severe deficiencies. Severe deficiencies are those found in categories G through L. This tells you the inspectors did not deem any of the deficiencies on this facility's report to pose an imminent threat to patient health or safety. Remember that deficiency-free inspections are uncommon in this industry.

One of the other reasons we rated this nursing home so highly is that it received a very impressive nursing grade. In that category, we awarded this nursing home an B+. Our nursing rating is primarily based on a facility's level of nurse staffing. This particular nursing home provided 0.3 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Finally, our nursing grades also factor in quality-based assessments, such as avoiding major falls. This nursing home performed well in this area. Avoiding major falls is typically a good indicator that a nursing home has reliable quality controls in place. Major falls can frequently be avoided if more nurses aids and better safety protocols are in place.

This nursing home's next highest area was short-term care. In that area, we gave this nursing home a grade of B-. Short-term care grades are based in part on a facility's quantity of highly-skilled nursing services. This means a wide scope of nursing services, ranging from registered nurses to physical and occupational therapists, not to mention other types of therapy. Fortunately, it looks like this nursing home has registered nurses on staff. Not all nursing homes employs these skilled professionals. On the other hand, based on the information they provided, it does not look like the facility employs physical therapists. Finally, we looked at the number of patients who were able to return to the community from this nursing home. We found that 0 percent of this facility's residents returned home. At most nursing homes, closer to half of their residents are able to return home so this figure is below average.

The final category we assessed was long-term care. In that category, we gave this facility a grade of C. Our long-term care ratings are pivotal for prospective residents requiring personal care. One of the data points we considered in addition to nurse's aid hours is vaccines. Frankly, we were a bit bothered by the fact that this facility administered the pneumonia vaccine to only 67.90123 percent of its patients. On a more positive note, this facility was able to limit hospitalizations. In fact, it had less than one hospitalization per 1,000 long-term resident days, which is an impressively low figure.