A nursing home is a residential facility that provides 24-hour medical care, personal assistance, and supervision for people who can no longer safely care for themselves at home. Also called skilled nursing facilities, nursing homes offer a higher level of medical support than other senior living options like assisted living or board and care homes. The national average cost for a semi-private room is about $112,420 per year, or roughly $308 per day.
What Services Nursing Homes Provide
Nursing homes combine medical care with daily living support under one roof. The medical side includes nursing care around the clock, medication management, and monitoring of chronic conditions like heart disease, diabetes, or dementia. Rehabilitation services, including physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy, are standard offerings. These therapies help residents recover from surgeries, strokes, or injuries, with the goal of restoring as much independence as possible.
On the personal care side, staff help residents with everyday tasks they can no longer handle alone: bathing, dressing, eating, getting in and out of bed, and using the bathroom. Residents receive three meals a day, and many facilities accommodate special diets for conditions like diabetes or swallowing difficulties. Social activities, recreational programs, and spiritual services round out the daily routine.
Who Lives in Nursing Homes
Nursing home residents generally fall into two categories. Some are there for short-term rehabilitation, recovering from a hip replacement or a hospital stay before returning home. Others need long-term care because their medical needs or cognitive decline make it unsafe to live independently.
The most common health conditions among residents in long-term care settings include high blood pressure (affecting about 58% of residents), Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia (44%), heart disease (33%), and depression (26%). Arthritis, diabetes, chronic lung disease, and osteoporosis are also frequently seen. Many residents have several of these conditions at once, which is a major reason they need the level of supervision a nursing home provides.
How Nursing Homes Differ From Assisted Living
The key difference is the intensity of medical care. Assisted living facilities are designed for people who need help with daily activities but are still relatively independent. They might need reminders to take medication or help getting dressed, but they don’t require constant nursing attention. Nursing homes, by contrast, are built around medical care. They have licensed nurses on duty at all times and can manage complex health issues like wound care, IV medications, and post-surgical recovery.
If your loved one mostly needs companionship and light support with daily tasks, assisted living is likely the better fit. If they need regular medical monitoring, help with most daily activities, or have advanced dementia that creates safety concerns, a nursing home provides the appropriate level of care.
Who Works in a Nursing Home
Federal regulations require every certified nursing home to have a medical director who is a licensed physician. This doctor oversees the facility’s medical policies and care standards. Two types of licensed nurses staff the floors: registered nurses (RNs) and licensed practical nurses (LPNs). RNs handle the most complex clinical tasks, while LPNs provide routine medical care like administering medications and checking vital signs.
The largest group of hands-on caregivers is certified nursing assistants (CNAs). These are the staff members who spend the most time with residents, helping with bathing, meals, mobility, and comfort throughout the day and night. Federal rules require CNAs to be part of each resident’s care planning team, so they have a formal role in shaping how care is delivered. Most facilities also employ physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, social workers, dietary staff, and activity coordinators.
What It Costs
Based on the 2024 Cost of Care Survey, the national average for a semi-private nursing home room (shared with one other person) runs about $308 per day, or $112,420 per year. Private rooms cost significantly more. These figures vary widely by state and region. Urban areas and states in the Northeast tend to be the most expensive, while parts of the South and Midwest are often considerably cheaper.
The cost typically covers room and board, nursing care, meals, and basic personal care services. Rehabilitation therapies, specialized medical supplies, and certain medications may be billed separately depending on the facility and how the stay is being paid for.
How Medicare and Insurance Cover Stays
Medicare covers skilled nursing facility care only under specific conditions. You must first have a qualifying hospital stay of at least three consecutive inpatient days. You then need to enter the nursing home within 30 days of leaving the hospital. And the care you receive must be skilled nursing or therapy that can only be provided in this type of facility.
When those conditions are met, Medicare pays the full cost for the first 20 days. From days 21 through 100, you pay a daily copay ($217 per day in 2026). After 100 days in a single benefit period, Medicare coverage ends entirely. This means Medicare is designed for short-term rehabilitation stays, not long-term residence. For long-term care, most people pay out of pocket, through long-term care insurance, or eventually qualify for Medicaid once their assets are spent down.
How to Evaluate Quality
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services rates every certified nursing home on a five-star scale, with results posted publicly on Medicare.gov. The overall rating is based on three components: health inspection results (how the facility performed during its most recent state survey), staffing levels (how many nursing hours residents receive per day), and quality measures (clinical outcomes like how often residents develop pressure sores or experience falls).
A five-star rating is the highest, and one star is the lowest. These ratings are a useful starting point, but they don’t capture everything. Visiting in person gives you a sense of how residents are treated, whether the facility smells clean, how engaged the staff seem, and whether current residents appear comfortable. Ask about staff turnover, the ratio of nurses to residents, and how the facility handles emergencies or hospitalizations.
What the Admission Process Looks Like
To be admitted, you or your family will need to provide a detailed medical history, including past surgeries, current diagnoses, recent test results, a list of current medications with dosages, and any known allergies. The facility will also want to know about limitations in daily activities: can the person walk independently, feed themselves, manage their own hygiene? This information helps the care team build an individualized plan.
You’ll also be asked for emergency contact information, health care advance directives (documents that spell out your wishes for medical treatment if you can’t communicate them yourself), and insurance details. Some facilities have waiting lists, so starting the process before a crisis hits gives you more options and less pressure to settle for the first available bed.