Quality of Care

Understanding the types of care at NHVH:

The New Hampshire Veterans Home is a long-term care facility providing nursing services ranging from care for those who need a basic level of nursing home assistance to those who need total and end-of-life care.

We are not a skilled nursing facility as defined in the Medicare system, and do not provide short stays for rehabilitation purposes. We are strictly a long-term care Home where residents generally live out their days after moving in. Many of our residents transfer from a skilled nursing facility when their rehabilitation potential has been maximized but they remain unable to perform activities of daily living (ADLs), such as dressing, bathing, or walking on their own.

When life can no longer be sustained, we provide palliative and hospice care.

What is Intermediate Care?

NHVH is a long term care facility providing an intermediate level of rehabilitative/restorative care to residents in need of assistance with activities of daily living and nursing care. Most of the residents have long-term illnesses or disabilities that may have reached a relatively stable plateau. Other residents whose conditions are stabilized may need medical and nursing services to maintain stability. Essential supportive consultant services are provided.

LEDU: Dementia Care

Opened in 2004, the100-bed Life Enhancement Dementia Unit is a fully integrated environment designed to care for residents suffering from Alzheimer's Disease and various other forms of dementia. The units are secured to protect residents from wandering, but feature a bright, airy design aimed at providing a sense of home by maximizing independence, emphasizing success, and suspending pre-conceived social and institutional rules. A third-floor additon to the building that will provide 30 to 40 more beds has been approved at the state level. Start of work is hoped for by 2020.

Palliative Care/Hospice Care; Volunteer Vigil

Palliative Care provides symptom management with focus on maintaining quality of life, not disease cure. Hospice Care provides symptom management of the resident who is in a permanently declining state. In situations where death is expected, residents often want to remain at NHVH rather than be sent to the hospital.

Nursing and social service staff provide palliative care under supervision of the Medical Staff. Family members, friends and clergy are free to visit whenever they wish. Palliative care is provided in the resident's own room. A family room is available for visitors who wish to stay overnight. Visitors can reserve the family room by contacting the unit social worker.

Eileen

The resident may choose to elect the "Hospice Benefit": from a certified Medicare Hospice Agency that is a contracted provider with the NHVH. There must be a physician's order stating the resident has six months or less to live.

When family members cannot be present, a Volunteer Vigil is offered, where volunteers, specially trained regarding the needs of residents at the end of life, will sit with actively dying residents.

Caring for Women Veterans

Since it was set up in 2010, the New Hampshire Veterans Home has recognized the needs of female veterans with a dedicated wing for women, who amount to less than 10 percent of the Home's current population. That number, however, is expected to grow significantly over the next few decades reflecting the larger numbers of women who serve in the military. The women have single rooms and their own dining area, and they participate fully in all of the Home's social and recreational activities.

Behavioral Health

Social workers coordinate the psychosocial and spiritual needs of our residents. Each resident is assigned a primary social worker, who coordinates with the resident, family members, and staff to promote the autonomy, privacy, integrity, and dignity of each individual. Social workers perform assessments, do individual and family casework, and provide referral to services within both NHVH and the community.