the.com/nursing home
A place providing round-the-clock care for elderly people who need more support than family alone can give.
means A residential facility providing round-the-clock care for elderly or infirm people who can no longer manage daily life alone.
from A plain compound of 'nursing' (the caregiving sense of 'nurse,' from Latin nutrire, 'to nourish') and 'home' — the word yoking clinical care to domestic comfort, as if naming the thing could soften it. The phrase settled into common use in the 20th century as aging populations and smaller households shifted elder care out of family houses and into institutions built for the purpose.
- staffing math
- one aide often covers fifteen or more residents overnight
- real cost
- private rooms can exceed many mortgages monthly
- better term
- skilled nursing facility, same place, nicer brochure
- preference
- Most residents say they would rather be in their own home