One of the most difficult and most important decisions you may have to make concerns placing someone you love in a nursing home.

There are about 17,000 long term care facilities in the United States. A recent study found that approximately 30% of these homes had been cited for abuse. So if you find yourself in the difficult position of having to find quality long term care for someone you love then there are a number of steps you can take to find the quality care that you want.

Here are a number of tips that can help you to become informed about long term care so that you can make an educated decision.

Make Inquiries about All the Nursing Homes Close to Where You Live

In order to find quality nursing care you should first get a list of all of the long term care facilities in your area. To start your search call 1-800-677-1116, the phone number for the Eldercare Locator hotline. Ask them for information on your local Agency on Aging. Your local agency will then be able to provide you with a comprehensive list of facilities in your neighborhood.

Ask Your Family, Friends, Doctors, Neighbors, and Clergy about Their Nursing Home Experiences

Talk to people whom you trust about their positive as well as negative personal experiences with nursing homes close to your home.

Log On to Medicare and Use Their Nursing Home Compare Tool

Use your search engine to find the Medicare Nursing Home Compare Tool. Use it to find the most recent data on the nursing homes in your geographic area. You will be able to get a good first impression of the facilities by comparing their inspections, size, quality, staffing levels, and type of ownership.

Start with the Long Term Care Facilities that are Closest to Your Home

When you begin to search for long term care facilities you should start by looking at the nursing homes that are closest to you and to the other members of your family who will be involved in caring for your loved one. If the nursing home resident lives close to you then it will be easier to visit her or him and you will be able to see them more often.

The more often you and your family members visit, the happier the patient will be. In addition, if you do not announce when you are going to visit, the staff will probably be more attentive to your loved one. In turn they will receive a higher quality of care giving.

In addition, when people visit regularly they will be more attuned to any mental or physical changes that the patient is experiencing. And if there are noticeable changes then there could be a quicker response to an emergency.