The nurse manager of a long-term care facility is planning to hire additional nursing staff. What should this manager consider about how the need to assess resident/patient changes and potential problems differ between the long-term care facility and an acute care facility?

Question

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Rationale 1: While it is true that acute care patients are sicker, there is also availability of consults both with other nurses and with physicians.
Rationale 2: The long-term care nurse does not have ready consult available and the physician may not have as good a working knowledge of the resident. This difference requires the nurse to have astute assessment, monitoring, and communication skills.
Rationale 3: Long-term care residents often have multiple chronic illnesses complicated with changes associated with aging. This makes good assessment and intervention skills essential.
Rationale 4: The need for assessment, monitoring, and communicating about long-term care facility residents is somewhat different than that for acute care patients.

The Nurse Manager of a Long-Term Care Facility Is Planning