The intricate workings of a nursing home are brought to light by Peter D. Busacca in How a Nursing Home Works. Nursing homes provide care for those who need long term care or physical rehabilitation and have complex social systems. At the helm of a nursing home is its administrator, a leader who uses effective leadership knowledge, skills and abilities to control and co-ordinate the financial, material and human resources that make the facility run and hopefully, in the process, to provide quality medical care for long-term patients and to serve the needs of the other residents. Busacca states that the purpose of his book is to make great quality in nursing homes more uniform, ubiquitous and longer lasting through long-range planning to carry out strategic goals.

In How a Nursing Home Works, Busacca has categorized his chapters according to the various areas of a nursing home, starting with the role of the administrator, whose eye should always be on the budget which includes salaries, operating expenses and capital as well as non-capital expenses and the goal of maintaining respect between union and non-union workers. The other chapters focus on the nursing department, nutritional services, housekeeping and laundry, maintenance and safety – all of which are vital to the everyday functioning of the nursing home – and then provides important information with respect to the roles of the pharmacy, social services, the various forms of rehabilitation as well as medical, dental, radiology and laboratory services. Each of these services plays an important role in the needs of the patients and residents.

Busacca’s book is relevant and a necessary tool for families who have loved ones about to enter into, or already in a nursing home, and for those who are potentially looking for a job or career in the nursing home field. With the hint of a second volume potentially in the works, Busacca has given readers a great introduction into the nursing home field with How a Nursing Home Works.

Based on Peter D Busacca’s extensive knowledge and experience, How a Nursing Home Works delves into the multiple processes, operations and policies that make up and facilitate the smooth running of a nursing home. The work begins by examining the administrative department which deals with the licensing requirements of a nursing home, its organizational structure, the policies and procedures that guide each department, job descriptions of employees who work in a nursing home, among other important roles. Other chapters discuss other departments including the nursing department, contractual services in a nursing home such as dental and radiology, social services, pharmacy, maintenance and safety, housekeeping among others. For each department, the work defines its roles and shows how effective operations are ensured.

Written for both medical and non-medical professionals, How a Nursing Home Works by Peter D Busacca employs accessible language that any reader can understand. The descriptions contain enough information to give a detailed explanation of every department without including too much information that could confuse or bog down readers. From administrative to housekeeping, pharmacy, and fiscal operations, the work is comprehensive in its coverage of the departmental divisions of a nursing home. It also uses an existing nursing home for its analysis, TownHouse Extended Care, which gives a specific viewpoint on the operations of nursing homes. Some suggestions are also included such as in the case of the purchasing process. The work advises that the lowest-priced item may not always be the right one to go for. These suggestions offer additional insights. How a Nursing Home Works is an important resource as it gives an in-depth look into the facets that make up a nursing home.

How a Nursing Home Works by Peter D Busacca is a quick read that gives readers the information they need to know about nursing homes. Written by a licensed Nursing Home Administrator, the book provides important information in regards to how a nursing home is run, the legal requirements for setting up one, the different processes and programs involved in running the nursing home, and the departments that work together to ensure that quality service is provided. This is a comprehensive overview of what goes on in the different departments of a nursing home, from the medical, dental, radiology, and laboratory, to the nursing, administrative, nutritional services, social services, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, audiology, and recreation, to medical records and many more.

This is a book for those who want or need to know what goes on in a nursing home and how it is organized to ensure quality service to patients and residents. Peter D Busacca brings his experience to the work and provides answers that readers will want to know. Whether one works in healthcare or has a patient in need of a nursing home, this book is a great information tool for readers. How a Nursing Home Works is written in a simple style and in language that is accessible. The author writes with confidence and takes readers on an informative journey through the different departments of a nursing home. It provides need-to-know information on the complexities of running a nursing home. I found it to be very informative and handy.

In Peter D Busacca’s How A Nursing Home Works, we see a breakdown of all the separate jobs that coexist together to make a care facility operate successfully. The author presents the roles and jobs of everyone involved with the nursing facility from the administrator at the top to those who work in housekeeping and laundry. We learn about each specific role and what each one does behind the scenes. As someone who has worked in a nursing home for the past ten years, I found this book very enlightening and eye-opening. Being a CNA, I am familiar with many of the jobs that my nursing home has. I really found the administrators' last job duties interesting because I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard from people who work the floor that administrators just sit behind a desk and don’t do much. I, of course, know that isn’t true but it was nice reading in-depth about all the certifications and permits involved to keep a nursing home up and running.

Another part that I didn’t know too much about was Social Services. When you think of a social worker, you think of someone being there to talk to the residents when they need something or want to withdraw money from their accounts, but it’s so much more. I didn’t realize that the social worker plays a huge part in whether a resident is accepted into the facility or not. The last part that intrigued me was the fiscal aspect of the nursing home. I’m from Illinois and I remember in years past that our state would be late with Medicaid reimbursement, which worried a lot of the workers.

Overall, I think Peter D Busacca did an excellent job in How A Nursing Home Works by showing the reader that a nursing home isn’t just a place where the elderly come to live. There is a lot involved that we don’t know about that keeps the doors open. In reading this book I have found out things that my nursing home doesn’t do but it sounds like these would be beneficial to the facility. It’s definitely a book I would love to recommend to my fellow coworkers from all job areas.