Nelson Manor

Nelson Manor is in Newton, Iowa, a city with 20,417 people. We gave this facility a B overall, which is a quality grade. We were equally impressed that Newton received a B+ city grade, making this one of the best places to find a nursing home. Based on our assessment, this place is a solid choice for quite a few people. This facility is stronger in some categories than others, but it didn't have any weak links in any of the major categories discussed below. More information about these categories can be found below.

To pair with its strong overall performance, we gave this place an A+ for the area of inspections. Our inspection grades weigh a host of factors found on a nursing home's inspection report. One of the most important criteria we weigh heavily is the quantity and severity of deficiencies. Places with better scores in this category generally have few severe deficiencies. While this facility had some minor dings on its government inspection report, it had no severe deficiencies. Severe deficiencies are ones labeled as categories G through L. This tells you CMS didn't deem any of the deficiencies on this facility's report to pose an imminent threat to patient safety or health. Keep in mind that deficiency-free inspections are rare in the industry.

Another one of this nursing home's quality category scores came in the area of short-term care. We gave them one of our more positive grades in that area, with a grade of B+. In determining our short-term care grades, we assess the facility's skilled nursing services, including those performed by registered nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists and other types of therapists. Our purpose is to devise a barometer for sizing up the rehabilitation services of different facilities. This nursing home employs both physical therapists and registered nurses. Not all facilities employ these skilled professionals. The last measure we considered in this category 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 patients returned home as opposed to remaining at the facility on a permanent basis.

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. Our nursing grade weighs a number of factors. The most important factor is the number of hours nurses spent with patients. This facility provided 3.3 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Lastly, we also looked at certain nursing quality-based metrics in computing our nursing grades. These include minimizing residents' pressure ulcers and major falls. We view these metrics as good indicators of the quality of nursing care being provided, since better care tends to reduce these problems.

The next area we assessed is long-term care. We awarded it a C in that category. This is a perfectly acceptable grade in this area. In forming our long-term care ratings, we quantify the nursing home's ability to maintain its permanent residents' health and quality of life. One of the data points we considered after nurse's aid hours is vaccines. Fortunately, this facility provided the pneumonia vaccine to 98.27586 percent of its patients. This place also excelled at keeping its patients out of the hospital. In fact, it had only 0.91 hospitalizations per one thousand long-term resident days, which is an impressively low figure.