Whispering Heights is the sole option we identified in Rock Valley, Iowa. With an overall rating of B+, this facility should work for most people. In addition, this is a hospital-based facility, which may add peace of mind for prospective residents with significant health conditions. The best part of this nursing home's strong profile is its inspection grade. We discuss inspections in the next section
Whispering Heights
- Nursing Home
Updated Sep 1, 2022 by Nick Lata
Quick Details
- No Medicare 1
- Accepts Medicaid 1
- No CCRC
- No Resident Council
- No Family Council
- Non profit - Other
- Offers Post-Acute Care
- Offers Respite Care
- Offers Inpatient Rehab
- Offers Outpatient Rehab
Specialized Services
- Transportation
- Speech Therapy
- Dentistry
- Wound Care
- Occupational Therapy
- Cardiac Therapy
- Mental Health
- Physical Therapy
- Nutritional Counseling
- Laboratory
- X-Ray
- Recreational Therapy
- Pain Management
- Colostomy Care
Awards
Registered Staff Hours
Facility Inspections
One of the reasons this place is a strong nursing home is that it earned an impressive inspection rating. In fact, inspections is its best category. In this category, we awarded this facility a grade of A. Our inspection grades weigh a host of factors included in a facility's inspection reports. One key criteria we weigh heavily is the quantity and severity of deficiencies. Facilities with higher grades in this category generally have few of these severe deficiencies. Fortunately, although this facility had a few minor dings on its report, it had zero severe deficiencies. Severe deficiencies are found in categories G, H, I, J, K and L. This tells you that the government inspectors didn't consider any of the deficiencies on this facility's report to pose an imminent threat to patient safety or health. We should point out that deficiency-free inspections are rare in the industry.
Long-term Care Quality
Another strong feature for this nursing home is that it was awarded a very positive long-term care grade. In fact, this ended up being its second best category grade. In this category, we gave this facility a grade of B+. When nursing homes receive this type of score in long-term care it is a good sign for patient care and indicates that the nursing home is well-staffed with nurses aids. One of the statistics we considered in addition to nursing hours was vaccines. This nursing home provided the pneumonia vaccination to 95.454544 percent of its patients. This is a proven method to minimize negative health outcomes for the nursing home population. Clearly, this place is doing something right in this area as it was able to keep its patients out of the hospital. Indeed, it had only 0.01 hospitalizations per 1,000 long-term resident days, which is an impressively low figure.
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Nurse Quality
Another one of this facility's impressive category grades came in the area of nursing care. We awarded them one of our better scores in that area, with a grade of B. The nursing rating is based on a variety of subcategories. The most important one is the number of hours nurses spend with patients. This facility provided 0.4 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Lastly, we also looked at some nursing quality-based metrics in determining our nursing grades. This place performed very well when it comes to minimizing its residents' major falls and pressure ulcers. We consider these areas to be good indicators of the quality of nursing care.
Short-term Care Quality
The next category we assessed is short-term care, in which this nursing home was awarded a grade of B. This facility did not turn out to have any weak links. In crafting these short-term care scores, we analyze the facility's skilled nursing services, such as those performed by registered nurses, respiratory therapists, physical therapists and other types of skilled professionals. Our purpose is to formulate a measure for comparing the rehabilitation services of different nursing homes. Unfortunately, we weren't able to track down registered nurse or physical therapy staffing data for this facility. The last statistic we considered in this area is the number of residents who were able to return home from the nursing home. We found that 0 percent of this nursing home's residents returned home as opposed to remaining at the nursing home on a permanent basis.
Rating Over Time
Compared to national and state averages across all facilities.
Whispering Heights Quality Metrics
Minimizes Pressure Ulcers
In Whispering Heights, 6.11% of Patients had Pressure Ulcers
This indicates the percentage of residents that suffered from a pressure ulcer. Pressure ulcers, also known as bed sores, are routinely the result of residents not being moved frequently enough. Better nursing care limits the number of pressure ulcers sustained by residents in a nursing home.
Minimizes Serious Falls
In Whispering Heights, 3.69% of Patients had Serious Falls
This indicates the percentage of patients that suffered from a major fall. Falls leading to major injury are often associated with poor nursing care. Better nursing protocols can minimize the number of major falls sustained by residents in a nursing home.
Minimizes Urinary Tract Infections
In Whispering Heights, 3.09% of Patients had UTIs
This metric is a measure of the percentage of long-term patients that suffered from a urinary tract infection. Although a higher rate infections may reflect poorly on a facility's nursing care, it is problematic to compare between facilities due to nursing homes having inconsistent reporting standards.
Appropriately Uses Anti-Psychotic Medication
In Whispering Heights, 16.77% of Patients use Anti-Psychotic Medication
This indicates the percentage of patients who were given antipsychotic drugs. Antipsychotic drugs are administered to residents for many conditions, such as cognitive disorders. Unfortunately, in limited situations, high levels of antipsychotic drug use may mean that a facility is using these drugs to control patient behavior.
Appropriately Uses Anti-Anxiety Medication
In Whispering Heights, 18.7% of Patients use Anti-Anxiety Medication
This figure is a measure of the percentage of long-term patients that are administered antianxiety drugs. These drugs are used to treat residents experiencing anxiety and depression.
Managing Depression Among Residents
In Whispering Heights, 4.48% of Patients
This is the percent of residents who are demonstrating depressive symptoms.
Appropriate Vaccine Usage
In Whispering Heights, 94.58% of Patients
This is a measure of the percentage of long-term patients who received the pneumonia and flu vaccines. Respiratory viruses can be very dangerous for nursing home patients, making these types of vaccines indispensable.
Residents Maintain Autonomy
In Whispering Heights, 16.82% Percentage of Patients
This is a measure of the percent of long-term stay patients who needed more assistance with activities of daily living over time. ADL's include activities such as moving around and bathing.
Ability to Keep Residents Mobile
In Whispering Heights, 19.24% Percentage of Residents
This tells you the percentage of patients that maintained mobility over time. Optimizing mobility is often a good sign for residents' health.
Hospitalizations
In Whispering Heights, 1.24 Hospitalizations per 1,000 resident days
Measures the number of times residents are hospitalized per 1,000 days of patient care. Minimizing hospitalizations is important to maintaining the physical well-being of nursing home patients.
Short-term Care: Rehospitalizations
In Whispering Heights, 19.24 Percentage of Residents Rehospitalized
This metric measures the number of rehospitalizations per 1,000 days of short-term patient care.
Nearby Hospitals
- Hegg Memorial Health CenterCritical Access Hospitals 0.2 miles away1202 21st Avenue Rock Valley Iowa 51247Voluntary non-profit - Private(712) 476-8000
- Sioux Center HealthCritical Access Hospitals 11.2 miles away1101 9th Street Se Sioux Center Iowa 51250Voluntary non-profit - Private(712) 722-1271
- Sanford Canton-Inwood Medical Center - CahCritical Access Hospitals 15.44 miles away440 North Hiawatha Drive Canton South Dakota 57013Voluntary non-profit - Private(605) 764-1400
- Hawarden Regional HealthcareCritical Access Hospitals 17.36 miles away1111 11th Street Hawarden Iowa 51023Government - Local(712) 551-3100
- Orange City Area Health SystemCritical Access Hospitals 18.77 miles away1000 Lincoln Circle Se Orange City Iowa 51041Voluntary non-profit - Other(712) 737-4984