Kirkus Reviews

HOW A NURSING HOME WORKS
Peter D. Busacca
AuthorHouse (98 pp.)
ISBN: 978-1-5462-7630-2; January 23, 2019

BOOK REVIEW

A health care administrator outlines important structures and procedures in a handbook on nursing home operation.

At the conclusion of his debut guide, Busacca recognizes three possible audiences for it: families of nursing home residents, caregivers who work in nursing homes, and people who are considering nursing home employment as a possible career. The author is a veteran administrator who’s had experience with numerous nursing facilities as an administrator and consultant, and as the relative of a patient, and he offers a comprehensive sketch of the intricate institution of the modern nursing home. Beginning with an overview of how such facilities are managed, he then provides detailed chapters that focus on specific elements of the nursing home experience, from medical care and nutrition to social services and housekeeping. A chapter titled “Medical, Dental, Radiology, & Laboratory,” for instance, lays out the provisions of the Patient Self-Determination Act of 1990 to educate residents about their legal rights, and “Maintenance and Safety” provides the proper temperature for water heaters and refrigerators. Overall, Busacca has produced a thorough best-practices guide for residential health care institutions. It sometimes reads like a textbook, with its numerous facts and impersonal voice (“Facility and departmental staffing classification as to what is full time, part time, per diem and supplemental status can be analyzed”). The tone is authentically authoritative, however, and some observations reveal less-obvious nuances of nursing home life. The work doesn’t confront the reality of poor standards of care in some institutions, but it does provide a comprehensive instruction manual for professionals in the field, focusing on what is required, what is expected, and what is good practice.

An informative, if somewhat dry, guide to the functions, management, and operation of residential health care facilities.