A couple of years ago, I stumbled across a list of the most commonly reported nursing home complaints -- complaints that we should all be aware of in looking for long-term care for ourselves or our loved ones:

1. Insufficient staffing to provide adequate and safe care.
2. Not responding to residents' needs in a timely or humane fashion (toilet, liquids, pain).
3. Staff's unresponsiveness to justified complaints by residents and family members.
4. Fear of retaliation after complaints are registered.
5. Staff's lack of ability to recognize a change in residents' condition or the signs or symptoms leading to serious illness.
6. Staff's lack of skills and knowledge to safely perform medical procedures and lack of ability to understand and follow doctors' orders.
7. Lack of communication between staffing shifts and between nursing staff and physicians, often leading to the discomfort and harm of residents.
8. Unsanitary conditions, breeding infections and illnesses.
9. Insufficient supplies to properly care for residents.
10. Constant loss or theft of clothing, personal items, and valuables.
11. Administrators' and staff's misrepresentation of facts about the actual care given to residents.
12. Intimidation of residents (who are all extremely vulnerable).
13. Medical records that are incomplete, inaccurate, fraudulent or have been destroyed.
14. Bad tasting, poorly prepared, nutritionally deficient food.
15. Insensitive, uncaring, rude, and abusive treatment of helpless residents and a general lack of compassion for all residents.
16. Administrators' and staff's belief that the everyday care level in most nursing homes, which constitutes neglect and abuse, is an acceptable care level.
17. Administrators who abuse the power of their position.

Although such complaints are few and far between at the nursing home where I hang out, I have heard a number of them once or twice over the last 20 years. That's to be expected; I guess I'd be pretty suspicious of a place that every resident loved with the fervor of a Stepford wife.

Nevertheless, if you're looking for a great facility, you'll want to find one that has reduced such complaints to an absolute minimum -- which underscores the importance of doing your homework. 

Medicare offers a handy checklist as well as a searchable database the lets you explore, with a few clicks of the mouse, the quality rankings of facilities in your area. And your state no doubt publishes a ton of information online; just to give you an example, here is Wisconsin's official portal into a wealth of nursing-home data. 

When touring the facilities on my short list, I would make every attempt to talk with a few residents, and their families, focusing on the items on the list above. And I would ask about each facility's Christian offerings, favoring the one with the most robust selection; it's a great indicator of staff members who reflect the love of Christ in every aspect of care.     

Then He also said to him who invited Him, “When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.  But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” (Jesus, quoted in Luke 14:12-14)
 
I’ve been thinking a lot about volunteerism lately, and about all the people I know who put their time, energy and money into good causes. Surely such efforts are earning heavenly rewards for them all -- or at least for those who’ll be there because they repented of their sin and trusted the Lord Jesus to have paid its penalty on the cross.
 
But the other day, the passage above jumped out at me. Apparently in charity, as in everything else, our motivations are of supreme importance to God. As He told the prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 16:7b), “The Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
 
So it seems that not all charitable deeds are created equal, at least as far as the Lord is concerned. Does this not suggest that we should weigh our motivations when we consider giving away our time, labor or money? That we should seek out service opportunities where there’s literally nothing in it for us?
 
That can’t mean we should not enjoy our service; “the Lord loves a cheerful giver,” after all (2 Corinthians 9:7). But I do think it means that the most valuable service is what we can do for those who offer us nothing in return – those without resources, those who can’t introduce us to valuable business contacts, those who do not offer us “first dibs” access to things we value, those who won’t make us look good in the eyes of people we admire.  
 
So by all means, let’s all freely give of our time, energy and fortune. But as we evaluate the wide world of volunteer opportunities, let’s not forget to factor our motivations into the equation – and perhaps focus on those that offer us no apparent payback. Because they’re sure to be the ones with the greatest need.