Sweetwater Nursing Center
978 Hwy 11 South, Sweetwater TN 37874 · (423) 337-6631 · 88.11% estimated occupancy 1Updated: Aug 1, 2020 · By Nick Lata
Sweetwater Nursing Center is one of only two facilities located in Sweetwater, Tennessee. This nursing home is a respectable facility, with an overall grade of B-. Based on our assessment, this nursing home ought to meet the needs of many people. One of the best aspects of this nursing home's profile is its remarkable inspection score, which we will address in the next paragraph.
Additional Details:
Accepts Medicare 1 :
Accepts Medicaid 1 : 90 Beds
CCRC :
For profit - Individual
Resident Council:
Family Council:
Medical Staff Hours Per Patient (2019)
Facility Inspections
While this nursing home's overall grade was decent, it really excelled in the category of inspections. In fact, we awarded it a grade of A+ for that category, which is one of our best scores. Our inspection scores account for a host of factors found on a nursing home's inspection reports. One key criteria we look at is the quantity and severity of deficiencies. Places with better scores in this area typically have very few severe deficiencies. Fortunately, although this place had some minor dings on its government inspection report, it had zero severe deficiencies. Severe deficiencies are found in categories G through L. This tells you the government inspectors didn't deem any of the deficiencies on this facility's report to pose an imminent threat to patient safety or health. A couple minor dings aren't something to panic about.
Short-term Care Quality
We also gave this nursing home an impressive score in short-term care. This facility received a B+ in this area, which is one of our more impressive grades. Our short-term care grade is commonly used to score a nursing home's performance with rehabilitation. To have highly scored rehabilitation services, facilities generally need to have higher levels of skilled nursing. Skilled nursing includes registered nurses, physical therapists, speech therapists and other types of therapists. Fortunately, this nursing home offers both physical therapists and registered nurses. Not all facilities offer both. Lastly, we assessed the number of patients who were able to return to the community from this facility. This proved to be a real strength for this nursing home. It outperformed the vast majority of nursing homes in the nation with 76.3 percent of its patients returning home. This is a significantly higher rate than most facilities.
Long-term Care Quality
This facility's next highest area ended up being its long-term care score, where it was awarded a B-. In calculating our long-term care scores, we analyze the personal care offered to the nursing home's residents. On top of looking at the quantity of care provided by nurses and other staff, we also looked at the percentage of residents vaccinated against pneumonia. This facility provided the vaccine to 100 percent of its patients, which is higher than most nursing homes. This nursing home was able to keep its patients out of the hospital. Although it had 1.78 hospitalizations per 1,000 long-term resident days, its risk adjusted score was better than the majority of nursing homes since it had more complex patients.
Nurse Quality
The final area we graded was nursing, which is this nursing home's least impressive category. It received an F for this area, which is certainly a major concern. There are many data points included in this grade. Most of the subcategories relate to staffing levels. This facility provided just 2.9 hours of nursing care per resident per day. This is a very low total compared to most nursing homes. In addition to its weak nursing hours, this nursing home earned poor scores in several of the quality-based metrics we looked at in computing our nursing ratings. We found that more of this nursing home's patients experienced falls leading to serious injury. We believe that many falls could likely be prevented with better nursing care. This statistic contributed to this place receiving a terrible nursing rating.
Overall Rating Over Time
Compared to national and state averages across all facilities.
Sweetwater Nursing Center Quality Metrics
Minimizes Pressure Ulcers
This is the percent of residents that have had a pressure ulcer. Pressure ulcers are considered by many in the nursing home industry to be a measure of the quality of nursing care at a nursing home. Pressure ulcers, which are also called bed sores, are often the result of residents not being moved frequently enough.
Percent of Patients with Pressure Ulcers
Lower is Better
Minimizes Serious Falls
This figure gauges the percent of long-term patients who suffered falls which caused severe injury. This is one of the statistics we use in determining our nursing ratings.
Percent of Patients with Serious Falls
Lower is Better
Minimizes Urinary Tract Infections
This measures the percentage of long-term stay patients that experienced a UTI. UTI's may be a sign of poor nursing care. However, this statistic may be skewed for some nursing homes due to varying reporting standards for these infections.
Percent of Patients with UTIs
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Psychotic Medication
This is the percentage of patients given antipsychotic medications. These medications may be used for several medical conditions, including Alzheimer's or other dementias.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Anxiety Medication
This is the percent of patients prescribed antianxiety medications. Antianxiety medications are administered to residents suffering from anxiety and depression.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Managing Depression Among Residents
Measures the percent of long-term care patients exhibiting symptoms of depression.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriate Vaccine Usage
This datapoint measures the percent of long-term care patients that received the flu and pneumonia vaccines. Respiratory viruses can be very dangerous for seniors, making these vaccines critical to patient care.
Percent of Patients
Higher is Better
Residents Maintain Autonomy
This metric measures the percent of long-term residents that needed more assistance with activities of daily living over time. Activities of daily living include activities such as getting dressed and continence. Some experts argue this is a reliable measure of a patient's well-being.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Ability to Keep Residents Mobile
This is a measure of the percent of long-term stay residents who retained mobility levels.
Percentage of Residents
Higher is Better
Hospitalizations
This tells you the number of times residents are hospitalized per 1,000 days of patient care. There is generally a correlation between staying out of the hospital and the quality of long-term care.
Hospitalizations per 1,000 resident days
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Rehospitalizations
This indicates the number of times residents are rehospitalized per 1,000 days of short-term care. There is usually a correlation between reduced hospitalizations and the quality of rehabilitation services.
Percentage of Residents Rehospitalized
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: ER Visits
Measures the number of emergency room visits per thousand days of short-term patient care.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Facilitates Functional Improvement
This indicates the percentage of short-term stay patients that experienced functional improvements, such as enhanced ability to perform activities of daily living. Higher levels of autonomy with ADL's often correlates with better rehabilitation.
Percentage of Resident
Higher is Better