Nhc Healthcare, Anniston

My father has been at NHC for rehabilitation for almost 2 weeks. He was worse this past weekend when I visited him than he was in the hospital! Wasn't being turned as often as should be, blood pressure was allowed to get dangerously low, and someone tried to take care of his wound that didn't know about wound care and made it significantly worse - to the point he had to be transported to hospital for treatment. But was then returned to NHC. The physical therapist was really nice, but he was not receiving as much PT as should be and seemed to be getting too much medication that made him sleepy! Was much more alert and aware of what was going on when in the hospital. Very concerned, and upset, with treatment (and lack of) that he is receiving!!!

The CNA's play a major part in the team. They are nice and friendly to the patients and staff. I walked up on one who wasn't even certified yet but she was still able to help with my mother's needs.I recommend this place to be where your loved ones go to have a home away from home,especially the rehab unit. Kudos to the second shift staff.

This is my fourth time as a caregiver with a family member who was placed at NHC. Previous experience was with rehab care. There I found nursing care to be very good; however, there was an extreme lack of response to patient needs by CNAs. My family members all became incontinent while under their care because CNAs would neither acknowledge or attend to the patient's request for bathroom assistance. Their common response when approached about their negligence was to" just use your diaper", which is always demeaning. My other experience is with the long-term care unit. It is MUCH worse than the rehab unit. Again, the nursing care is decent, but CNAs seem to have free-will to do what they choose to or not to do. It has been established that they know the rules to follow for things but choose to do otherwise. Again, the response to requests for bathroom assistance, even by nurses, is not happening for the most part. Caregivers and patients are told that the patient must be offered bathroom assistance every 2 hours, but that rule is "fiction." If a patient needs feeding assistance, the patient is in even more trouble. CNAs will look for any opportunity to shirk that duty, saying the patient should try to feed themselves. Persons who know much about Alzheimer care should know that this approach is totally not acceptable because such patients will not realize they have not received an appropriate quantity of food to sustain themselves.

The rehab part does not have enough staff to fully and effectively serve the patients. Diapers go unchanged for hours on some shifts.. Patients are not move in the bed for hours and medicine and food is given at really late hours. Dietary is really off the mark. Diabetic diets consists of sweet tea and full desserts not matter what the blood sugar (Over 500!) I would never recommend this facility. My dad has gone to wetting in a diaper, and unable to feed himself since he has been there. He is very sedated. If the patients are any trouble to staff, they are shipped out and come back a little less trouble due to extra sedation.