The reviews for Sears Coastal Nursing & Rehab present a strongly mixed picture with clear and recurring positive strengths alongside significant and sometimes serious concerns. Many reviewers praise the caregiving staff — nurses, CNAs and specific individuals (one charge nurse is mentioned by name) — for being compassionate, attentive and professional. Several family members attribute successful clinical outcomes to the facility’s care, including notable wound care that reportedly saved a leg from amputation, and multiple accounts of successful rehabilitation and restorative therapy. The facility’s clinical breadth is a consistent positive: reviews list subacute care, post-hospitalization services, wound care, Alzheimer’s/Dementia unit, palliative/hospice care, therapeutic diets, and robust therapy offerings (physical, occupational, speech). Amenities such as private rooms with cable/internet, onsite pharmacy services, and social/recreational programming (music, ice cream socials, games, outdoor time) are also commonly appreciated. Numerous families describe feeling informed and supported, and several reviews describe a warm, home-like atmosphere and a fresh, noninstitutional smell in at least parts of the building.
Counterbalancing those positives are frequent and substantive complaints about cleanliness, staffing, management, and inconsistency of care. Multiple reviewers report rooms that are run-down, dirty, or small, and several raise severe sanitation issues including reports of cockroaches/rodents and lingering odors. More alarming are the clinical-safety complaints: accounts of residents left in soiled conditions, development of bedsores, falls, and medication-related problems. These issues are often tied to staffing shortages, attrition, and shift-by-shift variability — reviewers repeatedly note that care differs markedly depending on the time or staff on duty. This inconsistency extends to behavior and training: while some staff are described as going above and beyond, others are accused of being rude, poorly trained, or neglectful. A travel nurse incident and reports of staff turnover and alleged removal of good workers are cited as examples of instability in personnel.
Leadership and communication surface as another divided theme. A few reviews describe prompt and effective management responses (for instance, quick contact after a travel-nurse incident), but numerous others call out unresponsive or unreachable administration, including the Director of Nursing (DON) and the Administrator. Complaints include unanswered phone calls, delays in critical documentation (such as a death certificate), and an overall lack of timely communication. One review specifically alleges discriminatory treatment at the front desk. Together these reports suggest uneven leadership engagement and variable responsiveness to family concerns.
Facility condition and environment are also inconsistent across reviews. Several people praise clean public areas, a lack of “nursing home smell,” and a fresh atmosphere, while others describe dirty floors, crud in corners, infestations, and an old, run-down physical plant. This split suggests that cleanliness and maintenance may be applied unevenly across units or change over time depending on staffing and leadership attention. Likewise, the building’s age and small room sizes are noted repeatedly — acceptable to some as “home-like,” problematic to others who see them as signs of neglect or insufficient investment.
Dining and activities are generally seen as positive: good food, therapeutic diets, and a range of activities are frequently mentioned as benefits. Families appreciate music sessions, social events, and opportunities for outdoor time. Where problems appear, they more often relate to the level of supervision and the ability of staff to respond promptly to resident needs during understaffed shifts. Several reviews explicitly recommend the facility for rehab or short-term stays while advising caution for longer-term placement without verification of current staffing and cleanliness standards.
In sum, Sears Coastal Nursing & Rehab appears to provide strong clinical services and compassionate care on many shifts, with standout examples of high-quality wound care, effective rehabilitation, and caring staff praised by multiple families. However, the facility also exhibits recurring, serious issues — inconsistent care across shifts, staffing shortages and turnover, sanitation/pest concerns, incidents of neglect, and uneven management responsiveness. These patterns warrant careful, up-to-date verification by prospective residents and families: arrange an in-person tour (inspecting resident rooms and less-visible areas), ask for current staffing ratios and recent infection-control or regulatory inspection records, request references from recent families, and confirm how leadership addresses complaints and staff training. The mixed reviews suggest a facility that can deliver excellent, even life-saving care at times, but also one where risks related to staffing, cleanliness, and reliability should not be overlooked.
