How do we daughters find the best nursing home for our elderly parent?

Talk to other family: First, define what area you want to search in. Then, visit the actual nursing homes and ask to talk to the residents and visiting family of those residents. Ask the home about specific staffing ratios and what their staff is comprised of - how many rn's, cna's, dieticians, activity specialists, physical/occupational/speech therapists. What medical care is available if problems arise - doc available?

Informed decision: Visit facility, ask about ratio of patients to nurses, cnas; look at rooms -- see if they're private, semi-private, etc. Compare nursing homes by rating: medicare website is one of them: http://www.Medicare.Gov/quality-care-finder/#nursing-home-compare. Also, when a nursing home has been surveyed by a state oversight agency, it should have the results of survey readily available for you to look.