Washington, DC (NAPSI) - If you or someone you care about is among the more than 40 million Americans over age 65 - or the estimated 8,000 more who reach that age every day - a few facts about aging and caring for the aged may be good to know.

What’s Available

The good news for many older people is that the range of living arrangements is greater than many think, including independent living, assisted living and dementia care communities, and continuing care retirement centers.

Assisted Living Nurses

If you decide to go the assisted living community route—that is, live in a residential long-term care setting that provides housing, 24-hour oversight, personal care services, health-related services or a combination of these as needed—even better news may be that these are increasingly staffed by top-quality assisted living nurses, a relatively new kind of health care professional.

What They Do

Generally, these nurses use a holistic approach to maintain and even improve their clients’ functions, independence, engagement with the environment and with others, well-being and quality of life.

Their work can involve:

• Assessing the function and physical status of the resident

• Care planning

• Medication management

• Developing and running health promotion and disease prevention programs

• Developing and running physical activity and exercise programs.

Some of the best assisted living nurses belong to the American Assisted Living Nurses Association (AALNA), an organization run for nurses, by nurses that promotes effective nursing practice in assisted living so both nurses and residents benefit.

Where They Do It

Now, many of these work with a leading owner and operator of senior living communities, Brookdale senior living solutions, which are designed to provide the highest-quality service, care and living accommodations for their residents.

“Brookdale has positively impacted millions of people’s lives during our decades of serving seniors and their families,” said Rita Vann, RN, Senior Vice President, Healthcare Services of Brookdale. “By partnering with AALNA, we have trusted resources and further means to achieve our goal.”

The corporate membership provides all the company’s nurses with professional networking opportunities, updates on industry trends, continuing education courses and webinars, changing regulations, and a voice in state and national policy discussions.

Learn More

For further facts, visit www.brookdale.com and www.alnursing.org or call (855) 444-7658.