Nursing home care: part II. Clinical aspects.

Understanding the distinctions between the management of clinical problems in nursing homes compared with the community setting helps improve the overall care of nursing home residents. Liberalizing diets helps avoid unintentional weight loss in nursing home residents, although the use of feeding tubes usually does not improve nutrition or decrease aspiration risk. Medical assessment, treatment of comorbidities, and appropriate use of rehabilitation therapies minimize the frequency of falls. Toileting programs may be used to treat incontinence and retention in cooperative patients. Adverse effects and drug interactions should be considered when initiating pharmacologic treatment of overactive bladder. Urinary tract infection and pneumonia are the most common bacterial infections in nursing home residents. Signs and symptoms of infection include fever or hypothermia, and functional decline. Virus identification is recommended for influenza-like illnesses. Nonpharmacologic behavioral management strategies are the preferred treatment for dementia-related problem behaviors. The Beers criteria, which outline potentially inappropriate medication use in older persons, provide guidance for medication use in the nursing home.