Questions to Ask a Nursing Home: Tour Checklist for Families

A nursing home tour is easier to compare when you ask the same core questions at every facility and write down the answers. This checklist focuses on nursing homes, but many questions also help when touring assisted living or memory care.

Before the visit, write down your loved one’s current care needs, mobility concerns, medications, memory or behavioral needs, preferred location, budget, and timeline. Bring this page on your phone or print it and use a separate copy for each community.

Before You Tour: Check the Basics

For Medicare-certified nursing homes, review Medicare Care Compare before or after the visit. CMS provides information about health inspections, staffing, quality measures, and other facility details. A star rating can be useful, but CMS also cautions that ratings cannot capture every factor that matters to a particular resident and family.

• Is the facility certified for Medicare, Medicaid, or both, if those payment sources matter to your family?
• What care does the facility provide, and what needs would require a transfer to another setting?
• Are there current admission restrictions, waiting lists, or bed-availability limits?
• Who should our family speak with about admissions, clinical questions, and billing?

Questions About Care and Assessment

• How do you assess a new resident’s nursing, therapy, mobility, cognitive, behavioral, and daily-living needs?
• Who develops the care plan, and how is the resident or family involved?
• How often is the care plan reviewed or updated?
• What happens if my loved one needs more help later?
• Can you manage transfers, toileting, incontinence, wound care, oxygen, feeding assistance, or other needs that apply to my loved one?
• How are changes in condition communicated to the resident, family, and medical provider?

Questions About Staffing

Staffing levels, turnover, training, and response systems can affect daily care. For Medicare-certified nursing homes, Care Compare includes staffing information that can be reviewed alongside what you observe during the visit.

• Who is on site during the day, evening, overnight, weekends, and holidays?
• When is a registered nurse available?
• How are nurse aides assigned to residents?
• How are agency or temporary staff used?
• What training do staff receive for dementia, falls, transfers, infection prevention, and emergency response?
• How are call lights or requests for help handled, and what should a family do if response seems slow?
• How does the facility handle staff turnover and continuity of caregivers?

Questions About Safety, Inspections, and Emergencies

• When was the most recent state inspection, and can we review any current plan of correction?
• Have there been recent complaints, citations, or enforcement actions we should understand?
• How are falls assessed and reduced?
• How are medications stored, administered, reviewed, and reconciled after a hospital stay?
• What happens after a resident falls, becomes ill, or has a significant change in condition?
• What is the emergency plan for power outages, severe weather, evacuation, fire, or loss of heating or cooling?
• Which systems are supported by backup power?
• How and when are families notified about emergencies or incidents?

Questions About Memory Care or Dementia Support

If your loved one has Alzheimer’s disease, another dementia, wandering risk, or significant confusion, ask how the facility supports those needs rather than assuming every nursing home provides the same dementia services.

• Is there a secured or specialized dementia-care area?
• How do staff respond to wandering, agitation, refusal of care, or changes in behavior?
• What dementia-specific training do direct-care staff receive?
• How are routines, activities, meals, and sleep supported for residents with memory loss?
• What happens if dementia-related needs increase?
• How are families involved in care planning and behavior-support strategies?

Questions About Meals, Activities, and Daily Life

• Can we see a current menu and activity calendar?
• Can meals accommodate allergies, texture needs, cultural preferences, or medically ordered diets?
• What help is available for residents who need assistance eating or drinking?
• How much choice do residents have in wake-up times, bathing, clothing, meals, and activities?
• Are there quiet places for visits with family and friends?
• How are residents supported if they prefer quieter activities or cannot participate in large groups?
• What transportation, religious, social, or community activities are available?

Questions About Costs and Payment

Ask for costs in writing. If your family may pay privately, our private-pay nursing home guide explains how billing can work and what to ask before agreeing to charges.

• What is the daily or monthly private-pay rate?
• Which services are included, and which services are billed separately?
• Are there deposits, reservation fees, move-in charges, transportation fees, therapy charges, or other add-ons?
• How and when can rates change?
• How does billing change if Medicare coverage ends?
• Does the facility participate in Medicaid, and who can explain the application and billing process?
• What happens if a resident’s funds are running low?
• Can we review the admission agreement and written fee schedule before signing anything?

Questions About Resident Rights and Family Involvement

• How are residents and families informed about rights, grievances, and complaint procedures?
• Is there a resident council or family council?
• How can a resident or family raise a concern without fear of retaliation?
• What is the visitation policy?
• How are roommates, room changes, transfers, and discharge decisions handled?
• Who can help if the resident or family disagrees with a care or discharge decision?

Questions About Admission and the First Few Days

• What records, medication lists, physician orders, insurance information, or assessments are required?
• Who coordinates the transfer from a hospital, rehabilitation facility, home, or another community?
• How quickly can admission happen if the facility is a good fit?
• What personal belongings should be brought or left at home?
• Who will be our main contact during the first week?
• When will the first care-plan meeting occur?

What to Observe During the Tour

Some useful information comes from observation rather than a prepared answer. One visit cannot tell you everything, but it can help you identify questions for follow-up.

• Do residents appear clean, appropriately dressed, and treated respectfully?
• Do staff address residents by name and explain what they are doing?
• Are strong odors, spills, blocked hallways, broken equipment, or obvious safety hazards being addressed?
• Do call lights or requests for help appear to be answered?
• Are meals and common areas calm enough for residents who need assistance?
• Do residents have access to personal belongings, activities, and places to visit with family?
• Does the facility feel rushed, unusually quiet, or understaffed in ways you want to ask about?

Printable Nursing Home Tour Checklist

Use this condensed list while touring. Check items off and write notes beside the questions that matter most to your family.

• ☐ Care needs can be met today
• ☐ Plan for increasing care needs explained
• ☐ Staffing coverage explained for days, nights, weekends, and holidays
• ☐ Call-light or response process explained
• ☐ Recent inspections and complaints reviewed
• ☐ Medication-management process explained
• ☐ Fall and emergency procedures explained
• ☐ Dementia support reviewed, if needed
• ☐ Meals and dietary needs reviewed
• ☐ Activities and daily routine reviewed
• ☐ Written pricing and extra fees requested
• ☐ Medicare/Medicaid participation confirmed if relevant
• ☐ Resident-rights and complaint process explained
• ☐ Admission documents and timeline reviewed
• ☐ Family contact person identified
• ☐ Notes taken immediately after the tour

Tip: on most phones and computers, you can use the browser’s Print option and choose “Save as PDF” to keep a copy of this checklist for each facility you tour.

How to Compare Facilities After the Tour

After each visit, rate the same categories while the details are fresh: care fit, staffing, communication, safety, cleanliness, daily life, location, cost, inspection history, and how comfortable your loved one seemed. Do not rely on a single score, sales presentation, star rating, or first impression by itself.

If you are still deciding between care settings, our nursing home vs. assisted living guide and memory care vs. nursing home guide can help clarify the type of care to compare.

Take the Next Step

When you are ready to build a shortlist, use Nursing Home Placement to compare communities by location and care type. If you are not sure where to start, the Care Finder can help you organize your needs and next steps.

This guide is for general informational purposes and is not medical, legal, financial, licensing, or availability advice. Verify current services, staffing, inspection information, prices, insurance participation, and admission requirements directly with the facility and appropriate public agencies.

Tour questions should also cover disruptions that may not be visible on an ordinary afternoon visit. Ask about power outages, evacuation, emergency communication, and continuity of care.

Explore related NHP guides

If you are still defining the level of care before touring, start with what skilled nursing care includes. For budgeting, review monthly nursing-home costs and payment basics. If Medicare or Medicaid may matter, use our Medicare vs. Medicaid long-term-care guide before comparing facilities.

If you are still building the shortlist before touring, start with How to Find a Nursing Home for a Parent. If a preferred facility says it cannot accept the referral, use our guide to what to do next after a nursing-home refusal.