Zearing Health Care

Located in Zearing, Iowa, Zearing Health Care is the only option we found in this city. This nursing home was awarded an A- overall, which is one of the most impressive ratings that we offer. A grade of this caliber requires first-rate marks across the board. Based on our analysis, you can't go wrong with this facility. This place's impressive report card was highlighted by its inspection grade, which you can find in the next paragraph.

To pair with a strong overall grade, we awarded this nursing home an A+ for our inspections rating. We take several aspects of a facility's inspection report into consideration in determining our inspection ratings. One key factor is health deficiencies. It should be noted that the severity of deficiencies is usually more important than the quantity of deficiencies, as some of these can be relatively minor. While this nursing home had some minor dings on its inspection report, it had zero severe deficiencies. Severe deficiencies are ones labeled as categories G, H, I, J, K and L. This means that the inspectors did not consider any of the deficiencies on this facility's report to pose an imminent threat to patient safety or health. Finally, this facility had no substantiated complaints this year from residents, which is an excellent sign.

Adding to its strong performance in other areas, we gave this facility an B+ for our nursing rating. Nursing ratings are mostly based on the facility's level of nurse staffing. This facility provided 3 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Finally, our nursing grades also factor in quality-based assessments, such as avoiding major falls. This facility performed well in this area. Avoiding major falls is typically a good indicator that a place has reliable quality controls in place. Major falls can frequently be avoided if more nurses aids and better safety protocols are in place.

The next category we graded is short-term care. This facility was given an above average short-term care grade, with a grade of B+ in this area. In the area of short-term care, we strive to qualify measures of a facility's rehabilitation. We look at a facility's skilled nursing services, including the ones performed by registered nurses and physical therapists. One reason for this facility's strong score in this category is that it provides more care with registered nurses to its residents than the average nursing home. Finally, we assessed the percentage of patients who were able to return home from this facility. We found that 0 percent of this facility's residents returned home.

Moving on to our next category, this nursing home received a very strong long-term care rating. Although this wasn't as elite as several of its other category grades, this is still one of the better grades a facility can receive. Long-term care scores in this range generally require both 24/7 care from nurses and aids, as well as quality routine medical care. After assessing the quantity of care provided by nurses and other staff, we then analyzed the facility's vaccination statistics. This nursing home vaccinated 100 percent of its patients against pneumonia, which is much higher than most nursing homes. This place also keeps its residents out of the hospital. In fact, it had only 1.51 hospitalizations per 1,000 long-term resident days.