Placement of older adults from hospital mental health units into nursing homes: exploration of the process, system issues, and implications

Decision making about placing older adults with mental illness and the process of placement from mental health units into nursing homes is challenging for older adults, family members, and health care professionals. In this article, I present an individual example drawn from an institutional ethnography examining the process of placement from mental health units into nursing homes in western Canada. I offer an analysis of the institutional processes and system issues that factor into the difficulties of placing this older adult with mental illness and suggest implications for nurses.