social worker?

In nursing homes, social workers field referrals from local hospitals for placement of potential residents. In other words, the hospitals' discharge planners (either nurses or social workers) will look for a place to put patients who either need rehabilitation prior to going home (short-term care), or for patients who don't have the potential to go home (long-term care).

Nursing home social workers not only screen potential residents, they also work on residents' discharge planning, too. Residents who will be going home often require a hospital bed or other durable medical equipment (walker, wheelchair, commode, etc) and/or home healthcare visitits by nursing, home chore worker, or rehab (physical, occupational, and speech therapies).

Some residents go to assisted living centers, and arrangements sometimes need to be made for that, particularly if the resident has no family to make those plans.

Social workers also assist residents and their families with Medicaid funding by helping with the application process.

I think Holey Moley answered it right. They also might lead support groups for families, but mostly they will do ALOT of paperwork.