Nursing facility staff strive to maximize resident independence and honor resident preferences. It is a resident's legal right to make choices about activities, schedules, health care and other aspects of facility life. Yet it is important to recognize that the facility must have some rules to secure an environment where residents can live together safely and harmoniously. Resident councils, which are made up of residents and sometimes family members, provide an opportunity for residents to address their concerns to staff and to one another. When it comes to treatment decisions, some residents choose to shift decisionmaking responsibilities to their children or other loved ones.
Nursing facilities have an unpleasant odor.
Today's nursing facilities should have no lingering unpleasant odors. In fact, with the effective cleaning products available, a properly cleaned nursing facility should smell pleasant. However, because many elderly nursing facility residents are incontinent, an occasional odor may be noticeable. If incontinent residents are changed and cleaned promptly, there should be no lingering smell. Nursing facility residents do not receive adequate care.