护理院是指的由医护人员组成的，在一定范围内，护理院是为长期卧床患者、晚期姑息治疗患者、慢性病患者、生活不能自理的老年人以及其他需要长期护理服务的患者提供医疗护理、康复促进、临终关怀等服务的医疗机构。为长期卧床老年患者、残疾人、临终患者、绝症晚期和其他需要医疗护理的老年患者提供基础护理、专科护理，根据医嘱进行支持治疗、姑息治疗、安宁护理，消毒隔离技术指导、社区老年保健、营养指导、心理咨询、卫生宣教和其他i老年医疗护理服务的医疗机构。
A nursing home refers to a medical institution composed of medical staff. Within a certain range, a nursing home is a medical institution that provides medical care, rehabilitation promotion, end-of-life care, and other services for long-term bedridden patients, late stage palliative treatment patients, chronic disease patients, elderly people who cannot take care of themselves, and other patients who require long-term nursing services. A medical institution that provides basic and specialized care for long-term bedridden elderly patients, disabled individuals, end-of-life patients, terminally ill patients, and other elderly patients in need of medical care. It provides supportive treatment, palliative care, hospice care, disinfection and isolation technology guidance, community elderly care, nutritional guidance, psychological counseling, health education, and other elderly medical care services according to medical advice.
老年护理服务的概念最早可以追溯到20世纪60年代末的英国。当初的老年护理服务是相对医院而言的，人们把护理院机构称为护理院，也有称为安息院或者临终关怀院，到了20世纪60年代，英国进入老年社会，全国有一半以上的医疗费用和医院床位被老年人占用。1967年7月，英国桑德斯博士首次在东南方的希登汉创办了圣—克里斯多夫医院，开始对临终病人全面提供专业化服务。人们将桑德斯博士称作“点燃全球临终关怀火炬的圣人”，也把圣—克里斯多夫医院当作全世界临终关怀机构的楷模。
The concept of elderly care services can be traced back to the late 1960s in the United Kingdom. At the beginning, elderly care services were relative to hospitals, and people referred to nursing homes as nursing homes, also known as hospices or end-of-life care homes. By the 1960s, Britain had entered the elderly society, and more than half of the country's medical expenses and hospital beds were occupied by elderly people. In July 1967, Dr. Sanders of England founded St. Christopher's Hospital for the first time in the southeast of Hiddenham, providing comprehensive professional services to terminally ill patients. Dr. Sanders is referred to as the "saint who ignited the global torch of end-of-life care", and St. Christopher's Hospital is also regarded as a model for end-of-life care institutions around the world.