How Many Nurses and Caregivers Should a Senior Care Home in Kerala Have?

The guidelines specify a minimum staff list for every registered home, including: a Manager (with a stated minimum qualification), a part-time counsellor or psychologist (available at least once a week), a nurse ("one nurse in every care home up to 50 service users, and one additional nurse beyond 50 and up to 100"), caregivers ("at two up to every 15 service users, and beyond that one additional for every 15"), cooks and cleaning staff scaled per 50 residents, and a part-time doctor.

These are minimums the state requires for registration, not a ceiling — a well-run home may staff well above this. The guidelines don't set out a separate, distinct numeric ratio specifically for dementia or memory-care residents; they instead require staff handling such cases to be "specially trained," without a stated different staff-to-resident number. If a home markets a specific dementia-care ratio, that's the operator's own commitment, not a government-set figure — worth getting in writing rather than assumed.

A staffing ratio on paper doesn't tell you what actually happens at 2 AM if a resident needs help. This isn't a legal requirement — it's a practical test worth applying yourself: ask directly how many staff are on the premises overnight, whether that includes anyone medically trained (not just security or housekeeping staff staying over), and how a resident actually calls for help — a bell, an intercom, a physical walk to a staff room. If the answer is vague, that's more informative than the staffing ratio quoted in the brochure.