Nursing home care: part II. Clinical aspects.

Understanding the distinctions between the management of clinical problems in nursing homes compared with the community setting helps improve the overall care of nursing home residents. Liberalizing diets helps avoid unintentional weight loss in nursing home residents, although the use of feeding tubes usually does not improve nutrition or decrease aspiration risk. Medical assessment, treatment of comorbidities, and appropriate use of rehabilitation therapies minimize the frequency of falls.

Nursing home care: part I. Principles and pitfalls of practice.

Approximately 1.5 million Americans reside in nursing homes. A family physician often leads the interdisciplinary team that provides for the medical, functional, emotional, nutritional, social, and environmental needs of these patients.