Assessment in the nursing home.

Nursing homes are an important component of the health care system for elderly people, and their importance will grow over the next several decades. Although the care provided in nursing homes is improving, it is far from optimal in many facilities. Improving the process of assessment in the nursing home is critical to improving nursing home care. This article provides a clinically oriented framework for the assessment of nursing home patients. It focuses on medical, nursing, and interdisciplinary assessment strategies for the assessment of nursing home patients and attempts to emphasize the unique and often complex issues that arise in the nursing home setting.