Prairie Maison

One of the many reasons this place received a great overall grade is that it received a very impressive nursing score. In fact, this proved to be its best category. In this area, we gave this facility an A. Nursing scores are primarily associated with a nursing home's level of nurse staffing. This nursing home averages 0.5 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Finally, we also assessed several nursing quality-based metrics 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 place the nation in this category. This is generally a good indicator of quality nursing care. Pressure ulcers can many times be avoided by offering better nursing care, such as employing a policy of moving a resident even once per day.

In addition, this nursing home also received a nearly flawless government inspection report. As a result, it received one of our best grades in that area with a score of A-. Inspection ratings weigh a host of factors found on a facility's inspection reports. One of the most important criteria we consider is the quantity and severity of deficiencies. Places with better scores in this category usually have few severe deficiencies. This particular nursing home had just a single deficiency on its inspection report and it was not one deemed to pose a threat to patient health or safety. Even some of the best nursing homes receive an occasional ding on their inspection report.

Adding to its fine resume, this nursing home also was awarded a superb short-term care grade, with a score of A-. In the area of short-term care, we endeavor to assess indicators of a facility's rehabilitation. We look at a nursing home's skilled nursing services, including those performed by registered nurses and physical, occupational and other therapists. Fortunately, it appear that this facility employs registered nurses. Not every facility employs these types of nurses. However, according to the data they provided, they do not appear to employ physical therapists. The last item we assessed in this category is the number of patients who ultimately returned home from the facility. We found that 0 percent of this nursing home's patients returned home as opposed to remaining at the nursing home on a permanent basis.

The next category we analyzed was long-term care. In this category, we gave this facility a favorable grade of B. Facilities that do well in long-term care typically provide residents with closer supervision and stay on top of routine healthcare services. One of the statistics we considered in addition to nursing hours was vaccinations. This nursing home provided the pneumonia vaccine to 100 percent of its residents. This is a great way to minimize unnecessary deaths for the aged 65 and up population. Clearly, this place is doing something right in this area as it was able to keep its patients out of the hospital. It had only 0.01 hospitalizations per 1,000 long-term resident days, which is a remarkably low number.