What to Bring to a Nursing Home: A Moving Checklist

Reviewed by the RBNH Editorial Team. Last updated October 2026.

Moving into a nursing home is easier with a focused, practical packing list rather than bringing everything from home. A reasonable starting checklist:

• Comfortable, easy-care clothing, labeled with the resident's name (most facilities use an industrial laundry process and require labeling to prevent items being lost or mixed up with other residents' belongings).
• Basic toiletries, though check first whether the facility supplies some items.
• Eyeglasses, hearing aids, and dentures, along with their cases, clearly labeled.
• A small number of comforting personal items, such as photos or a favorite blanket, within whatever space limits the room allows.
• The documentation already covered in our admission documentation FAQ: identification, insurance cards, medication list, and any advance directive or power of attorney paperwork.

Before bringing electrical appliances, valuables, or anything unusual, check with the facility about any restrictions, since some items may not be allowed for safety reasons or the facility may not be able to take responsibility for valuables. It's also worth asking directly what the facility recommends leaving at home.

Mobility Aids and Medical Equipment

If the resident already uses a walker, wheelchair, cane, or other mobility device, bring it, but confirm with the facility whether it will be used as-is or whether the facility's own therapy or nursing staff will evaluate it first, since a device fitted for one living situation is not always the right fit once a formal care plan and therapy goals are in place. The same applies to items like a CPAP machine or other home medical equipment: bring the device along with its supplies and any physician order associated with it, and ask in advance how the facility wants to handle equipment that technically belongs to the resident rather than the facility.

What Typically Should Stay Home

Beyond obvious valuables, most facilities discourage bringing large amounts of cash, jewelry with significant sentimental or monetary value, or anything the family would be genuinely upset to lose track of in a shared environment. Space is usually limited to a single room and sometimes a shared closet, so a small, curated set of comforting items chosen deliberately tends to work out better than bringing as much as possible "just in case" on moving day and sorting it out later.

A short written inventory of what was brought in, kept by the family and ideally also logged by the facility at intake, is a simple step that makes any later question about a specific item much easier to resolve.