Knute Nelson Care Center

In addition to performing well in its overall score, this nursing home received a first-rate nursing rating. We awarded it an A in that category. The nursing grade considers a variety of factors. The most important variable is the number of hours nurses spend with residents. This facility provided 0.4 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Finally, we also assessed several nursing quality measures and this place excelled in some of these areas. With less than five percent of its residents sustaining pressure ulcers, it performed as well as any nursing home Minnesota in this category. This is generally a good indicator of quality nursing care. Pressure ulcers can typically be prevented by providing better nursing care, such as employing a policy of turning a resident at least once a day.

In addition, this nursing home also received a nearly flawless inspection report. As a result, it received one of our highest grades in that category with an A. We weigh several aspects of a nursing home's inspection report in determining these inspection ratings. One of those factors is deficiencies. You should keep in mind that the severity of these deficiencies is arguably more meaningful than the number of deficiencies, as some deficiencies are quite minor. While this nursing home had a few deficiencies on its report, none of them were serious based on CMS' deficiency scale. Finally, this facility had no substantiated complaints this year from residents, which is an excellent sign.

This nursing home also excelled in the area of long-term care, where we awarded it a grade of A. Not many nursing homes performed better in this area. Facilities that excel in long-term care typically provide residents with better supervision and stay on top of routine medical care. Once we assessed the quantity of care provided by aids and other staff, we turned to the nursing home's vaccination statistics. This nursing home vaccinated 100 percent of its patients for pneumonia. Vaccines are critical to keeping patients healthy. Lastly, this facility was able to limit hospitalizations. Indeed, it had less than one hospitalization per one thousand long-term resident days, which is a remarkably low number.

In the last area, we gave this nursing home a grade of A for its short-term care score. This topped off a very strong report card. Our short-term care scores are believed to be more critical for folks requiring rehabilitation from their nursing home. Rehabilitation generally requires additional skilled nursing. Skilled nursing includes not merely nursing, but also physical and speech therapy, as well as other types of therapy. Fortunately, it looks like this facility has registered nurses on staff. Not all nursing homes employs these types of nurses. However, based on the data this nursing home provided, it does not look like the facility employs physical therapists. The last statistic we considered in this area is the percentage of patients who returned home from the facility. We found that 4.9 percent of this nursing home's patients returned home as opposed to remaining at the facility on a permanent basis.