U.S. News and World Report recently released its ratings of nursing homes in the U.S. The ratings are based on data from the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services and consist of an overall score plus scores in three areas: results of state-conducted health inspections, adequacy of staffing by nursing personnel, and performance on several quality measures that assess the health status of all Medicare or Medicaid recipients in the facility. Overall scores and scores in each area range from one to five stars. There are nearly 16,000 nursing homes in the U.S.; 3036 of them received an overall rating of five stars. The ratings, sorted by geographic region, can be found at this site. The scores have to do primarily with adequacy of the health care provided by the facilities. Though health care is essential, those looking for a nursing home for a family member may also want to consider such aspects of a facility as social climate, recreational activities, and emotional well being of residents. Still, the U.S. News ratings are a good place to start the research process.