Skilled Nursing

Skilled nursing care includes complex wound dressings, rehabilitation, medication therapy, IV therapy, education and teaching of disease processes, tube feedings or rapidly changing health status and post hospitalization care, assess/observe for symptoms for preventive care, urinary catheter care ostomy care and trach care. A number of patients may have a health status that changes quickly.

This includes accident victims or people who've developed or contracted a serious illness. People who have experienced strokes often require rehabilitation or have had some sort of joint replacement surgery and must learn how to walk, talk or feed themselves all over again.

What Skilled Nursing Doesn't Include

Skilled nursing does not include palliative or hospice care services or long-term care needs. For those services, you'll need to look elsewhere. Ask a member of your medical team how you can go about getting long-term care or hospice care if that is what your situation requires.