Senator Ben Atchley State Veterans' Home
One Veterans Way, Knoxville TN 37931 · (865) 862-8100 · 93.57% estimated occupancy 1Updated: Aug 1, 2020 · By Sara Levinsohn
Senator Ben Atchley State Veterans' Home is a large government-owned nursing home located in Knoxville, Tennessee. This is a great facility. We gave this it an overall grade of B+, which is very good grade. This ended up being one of the five best facilities in the city. This place's strong profile was highlighted by its inspection score, which we will address in the next section.
Additional Details:
Accepts Medicare 1 :
Accepts Medicaid 1 : 140 Beds
CCRC :
Government - State
Resident Council:
Family Council:
Medical Staff Hours Per Patient (2019)
Facility Inspections
One of the reasons this place turned out to be a great nursing home is it received an A+ inspection grade. This is simply as good as it gets in this category. Perhaps the most critical factor we look at in computing our inspection ratings is deficiencies. These deficiencies are found on a nursing home's inspection reports. Nursing homes with higher grades in this category typically dodged the more severe deficiencies involving health risks or even death. 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. Finally, this facility had no substantiated complaints this year from residents, which is an excellent sign.
Long-term Care Quality
Among this nursing home's other achievements is its first-rate long-term care score. We gave them one of our more impressive grades in that area, with a grade of A. Long-term care ratings in this range generally require both 24/7 care from nurses and aids, as well as quality routine healthcare services. In addition to looking at the impressive quantity of care provided by aids and other staff at this nursing home, we also were happy with the nursing home's vaccination data. By way of example, this nursing home administered the pneumonia vaccine to 100 percent of its residents, which is what we like to see. Lastly, this facility was able to limit hospitalizations. While it had 1.92 hospitalizations per one thousand long-term resident days, its risk adjusted score was better than the majority of nursing homes due to it having some more complicated patients.
Nurse Quality
Another strong feature for this facility is that it received an impressive nursing grade. In that area, we awarded this facility a grade of B+. Our nursing grade analyzes quite a few factors, many of which are based on quantities of nurse staffing. This particular nursing home provided 4.4 hours of nursing care per resident per day, which was among the highest totals we found. Finally, we also looked at nursing quality measures in determining our nursing scores. These include minimizing residents' pressure ulcers and major falls. We look at these datapoints as reliable indicators of the caliber of nursing care offered, since better care tends to reduce these problems.
Short-term Care Quality
The final category we assessed was short-term care. In that category, we gave this facility a solid grade of C. This actually is this facility's weakest category. Our short-term care scores are based in part on a nursing home's quantity of skilled nursing services. This includes a wide scope of services, spanning from registered nurses to physical and respiratory therapists, not to mention other types of therapy. This nursing home employs both physical therapists and registered nurses. Not all facilities employ these skilled professionals. The final metric we considered in this category is the number of residents who were able to return home from the nursing home. We found that just 27.2 percent of this facility's residents returned home. This figure was below average.
Overall Rating Over Time
Compared to national and state averages across all facilities.
Senator Ben Atchley State Veterans' Home Quality Metrics
Minimizes Pressure Ulcers
This is the percentage of residents who suffered from a pressure ulcer. Pressure ulcers, also referred to as bed sores, are routinely caused by residents not being moved frequently enough. Better nursing care can limit the number of pressure ulcers sustained by residents in a nursing home.
Percent of Patients with Pressure Ulcers
Lower is Better
Minimizes Serious Falls
This indicates the percentage of residents that have had a fall which caused serious injury.
Percent of Patients with Serious Falls
Lower is Better
Minimizes Urinary Tract Infections
This is the percent of residents that have had a urinary tract infection. UTI's are considered by many experts to be a measure of the quality of nursing care . UTI's are often linked to a facility with lower levels of hygiene. However, this datapoint could be misleading for some nursing homes due to varying reporting standards for infections.
Percent of Patients with UTIs
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Psychotic Medication
This metric is an indication of the percentage of long-term patients who are administered antipsychotic drugs. Increased usage of these drugs may suggest a nursing home is using these drugs to control patient behavior in situations where such medications are not medically indicated. Nevertheless, some nursing homes need to rely on these drugs due to having more residents suffering from cognitive disorders.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Anxiety Medication
This indicates the percentage of patients who were given antianxiety medications. Antianxiety medications are administered to patients experiencing anxiety or depression.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Managing Depression Among Residents
This tells you the percentage of patients who are showing signs of depression. High levels of depression could reveal a less hospitable environment.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriate Vaccine Usage
This datapoint is a measure of the percentage of long-term stay patients who were administered the pneumonia and flu vaccines. Respiratory viruses can be deadly for seniors, making these vaccines vital to patient safety.
Percent of Patients
Higher is Better
Residents Maintain Autonomy
This datapoint measures the percentage of long-term care patients that required additional assistance with activities of daily living over time. Activities of daily living include activities such as getting dressed and taking a bath.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Ability to Keep Residents Mobile
This indicates the percentage of patients that remained mobile levels over time. Optimizing mobility is usually a great sign for residents' health.
Percentage of Residents
Higher is Better
Hospitalizations
This tells you the number of times residents are hospitalized per thousand days of patient care.
Hospitalizations per 1,000 resident days
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Rehospitalizations
Measures the number of times residents are rehospitalized per thousand days of short-term resident care. Avoiding rehospitalizations during rehabilitation is critical to restoring the health of residents.
Percentage of Residents Rehospitalized
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: ER Visits
This datapoint is a measure of the number of times residents are sent to the emergency room per thousand days of short-term patient care. Staying out of the emergency room is one way to measure patient care during rehabilitation.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Facilitates Functional Improvement
This datapoint is a measure of the percentage of short-term stay residents that saw functional improvements.
Percentage of Resident
Higher is Better