Is a nursing home and skilled nursing facility the same thing?

Is a nursing home and skilled nursing facility the same thing?

Karl Steinberg (Associate Medical Director, Sharp Mission Park Medical Group) gives expert video advice on: What are the signs my parent is ready for long-term care?; What is the first thing I should do if I believe my parent needs long-term care?; Who can help me implement a long-term care plan for my parent? and more...

A nursing home is again just a generic term that you would apply to basically all nursing homes, all nursing facilities, both skilled and non skilled. So they're not exactly the same thing. A skilled nursing facility will have a higher level of nursing care and the ability to care for more complex medical conditions, whereas a nursing facility generally does custodial care and low level nursing interventions. They may be able to take care of a feeding tube or certain kinds of bed sores, but they aren't going to be doing IV antibiotics or taking care of trach patients or ventilator patients, things like that.