SUMMARIZED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATING INFORMATION - Condensed Consolidating Statement of Income (unaudited) (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016
Revenues:
Rental income	$ 100,145	$ 56,833	$ 213,273	$ 167,442
Interest and other income	4,090	3,157	8,062	25,482
Resident fees and services	7,554	1,937	17,840	5,811
Total revenues	111,789	61,927	239,175	198,735
Expenses:
Depreciation and amortization	25,933	17,102	62,290	51,273
Interest	24,568	15,794	56,218	49,139
Operating expenses	5,102	1,404	11,929	4,256
General and administrative	12,944	4,966	24,159	13,513
Merger and acquisition costs	23,299	1,051	29,750	1,222
Provision for doubtful accounts and loan losses	5,149	540	7,454	3,286
Impairment of real estate	0	0	0	29,811
Total expenses	96,995	40,857	191,800	152,500
Other income (expense):
Loss on extinguishment of debt	(553)	0	(553)	(556)
Other income (expense)	51	2,945	3,121	5,345
Net gain (loss) on sales of real estate	582	1,451	4,614	(3,203)
Total other income (expense)	80	4,396	7,182	1,586
Income in subsidiary	0	0	0	0
Income before income tax expense	14,874	25,466	54,557	47,821
Income tax benefit (expense)	195	(154)	(161)	(786)
Net income	15,069	25,312	54,396	47,035
Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests	26	25	42	66
Net income attributable to Sabra Health Care REIT, Inc.	15,095	25,337	54,438	47,101
Preferred stock dividends	(2,561)	(2,561)	(7,682)	(7,682)
Net income attributable to common stockholders	$ 12,534	$ 22,776	$ 46,756	$ 39,419
Net income attributable to common stockholders, per:
Basic common share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.11	$ 0.35	$ 0.58	$ 0.60
Diluted common share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.11	$ 0.35	$ 0.57	$ 0.60
Weighted-average number of common shares outstanding, basic (in shares)	112,149,638	65,312,288	81,150,846	65,285,591
Weighted-average number of common shares outstanding, diluted (in shares)	112,418,100	65,591,428	81,429,044	65,470,589
Elimination [Member]
Revenues:
Rental income	$ (3,187)	$ (587)	$ (5,164)	$ (1,749)
Interest and other income	(47)	(68)	(65)	(207)
Resident fees and services	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	(3,234)	(655)	(5,229)	(1,956)
Expenses:
Depreciation and amortization	0	0	0	0
Interest	0	0	0	0
Operating expenses	(3,187)	(587)	(5,182)	(1,760)
General and administrative	0	0	0	0
Merger and acquisition costs	0	0	0	0
Provision for doubtful accounts and loan losses	0	0	0	0
Impairment of real estate				0
Total expenses	(3,187)	(587)	(5,182)	(1,760)
Other income (expense):
Loss on extinguishment of debt	0		0	0
Other income (expense)	0	0	0	0
Net gain (loss) on sales of real estate	0	0	0	0
Total other income (expense)	0	0	0	0
Income in subsidiary	(121,566)	(70,693)	(258,725)	(157,480)
Income before income tax expense	(121,613)	(70,761)	(258,772)	(157,676)
Income tax benefit (expense)	0	0	0	0
Net income	(121,613)	(70,761)	(258,772)	(157,676)
Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0	0	0
Net income attributable to Sabra Health Care REIT, Inc.	(121,613)	(70,761)	(258,772)	(157,676)
Preferred stock dividends	0	0	0	0
Net income attributable to common stockholders	(121,613)	(70,761)	(258,772)	(157,676)
Parent Company [Member]
Revenues:
Rental income	0	0	0	0
Interest and other income	8	1	21	3
Resident fees and services	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	8	1	21	3
Expenses:
Depreciation and amortization	217	211	649	595
Interest	0	0	0	0
Operating expenses	0	0	0	0
General and administrative	10,058	4,527	19,380	12,440
Merger and acquisition costs	23,287	(105)	29,703	50
Provision for doubtful accounts and loan losses	533	566	615	(89)
Impairment of real estate				0
Total expenses	34,095	5,199	50,347	12,996
Other income (expense):
Loss on extinguishment of debt	0		0	0
Other income (expense)	349	2,636	2,634	4,732
Net gain (loss) on sales of real estate	0	0	0	0
Total other income (expense)	349	2,636	2,634	4,732
Income in subsidiary	49,145	28,073	102,474	55,783
Income before income tax expense	15,407	25,511	54,782	47,522
Income tax benefit (expense)	(265)	(106)	(297)	(225)
Net income	15,142	25,405	54,485	47,297
Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0	0	0
Net income attributable to Sabra Health Care REIT, Inc.	15,142	25,405	54,485	47,297
Preferred stock dividends	(2,561)	(2,561)	(7,682)	(7,682)
Net income attributable to common stockholders	12,581	22,844	46,803	39,615
Issuers [Member]
Revenues:
Rental income	0	0	0	0
Interest and other income	47	0	47	0
Resident fees and services	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	47	0	47	0
Expenses:
Depreciation and amortization	0	0	0	0
Interest	21,765	13,215	48,689	41,238
Operating expenses	0	0	0	0
General and administrative	16	21	47	42
Merger and acquisition costs	0	0	0	0
Provision for doubtful accounts and loan losses	0	0	0	0
Impairment of real estate				0
Total expenses	21,781	13,236	48,736	41,280
Other income (expense):
Loss on extinguishment of debt	(422)		(422)	(468)
Other income (expense)	688	400	707	916
Net gain (loss) on sales of real estate	0	0	0	0
Total other income (expense)	266	400	285	448
Income in subsidiary	70,613	40,909	150,879	96,616
Income before income tax expense	49,145	28,073	102,475	55,784
Income tax benefit (expense)	0	0	(1)	(1)
Net income	49,145	28,073	102,474	55,783
Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0	0	0
Net income attributable to Sabra Health Care REIT, Inc.	49,145	28,073	102,474	55,783
Preferred stock dividends	0	0	0	0
Net income attributable to common stockholders	49,145	28,073	102,474	55,783
Sabra Capital Corporation [Member] | Combined Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Revenues:
Rental income	0	0	0	0
Interest and other income	0	0	0	0
Resident fees and services	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	0	0	0	0
Expenses:
Depreciation and amortization	0	0	0	0
Interest	0	0	0	0
Operating expenses	0	0	0	0
General and administrative	0	0	0	0
Merger and acquisition costs	0	0	0	0
Provision for doubtful accounts and loan losses	0	0	0	0
Impairment of real estate				0
Total expenses	0	0	0	0
Other income (expense):
Loss on extinguishment of debt	0		0	0
Other income (expense)	0	0	0	0
Net gain (loss) on sales of real estate	0	0	0	0
Total other income (expense)	0	0	0	0
Income in subsidiary	0		0	0
Income before income tax expense	0	0	0	0
Income tax benefit (expense)	0	0	0	0
Net income	0	0	0	0
Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0	0	0
Net income attributable to Sabra Health Care REIT, Inc.	0	0	0	0
Preferred stock dividends	0	0	0	0
Net income attributable to common stockholders	0	0	0	0
Combined Guarantor Subsidiaries of 2021 Notes and 2023 Notes [Member] | Combined Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Revenues:
Rental income	54,640	52,233	160,121	153,658
Interest and other income	1,991	3,156	6,014	25,490
Resident fees and services	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	56,631	55,389	166,135	179,148
Expenses:
Depreciation and amortization	15,500	15,320	47,882	45,955
Interest	792	878	2,237	2,772
Operating expenses	0	0	0	0
General and administrative	1,671	375	3,429	902
Merger and acquisition costs	12	1,156	47	1,171
Provision for doubtful accounts and loan losses	4,616	(26)	6,839	3,375
Impairment of real estate				29,811
Total expenses	22,591	17,703	60,434	83,986
Other income (expense):
Loss on extinguishment of debt	(131)		(131)	(88)
Other income (expense)	(986)	(91)	(220)	(230)
Net gain (loss) on sales of real estate	614	1,451	4,640	(3,203)
Total other income (expense)	(503)	1,360	4,289	(3,521)
Income in subsidiary	1,808	1,711	5,372	5,081
Income before income tax expense	35,345	40,757	115,362	96,722
Income tax benefit (expense)	482	(27)	255	(512)
Net income	35,827	40,730	115,617	96,210
Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0	0	0
Net income attributable to Sabra Health Care REIT, Inc.	35,827	40,730	115,617	96,210
Preferred stock dividends	0	0	0	0
Net income attributable to common stockholders	35,827	40,730	115,617	96,210
Combined Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries of 2021 Notes and 2023 Notes [Member] | Combined Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries [Member]
Revenues:
Rental income	48,692	5,187	58,316	15,533
Interest and other income	2,091	68	2,045	196
Resident fees and services	7,554	1,937	17,840	5,811
Total revenues	58,337	7,192	78,201	21,540
Expenses:
Depreciation and amortization	10,216	1,571	13,759	4,723
Interest	2,011	1,701	5,292	5,129
Operating expenses	8,289	1,991	17,111	6,016
General and administrative	1,199	43	1,303	129
Merger and acquisition costs	0	0	0	1
Provision for doubtful accounts and loan losses	0	0	0	0
Impairment of real estate				0
Total expenses	21,715	5,306	37,465	15,998
Other income (expense):
Loss on extinguishment of debt	0		0	0
Other income (expense)	0	0	0	(73)
Net gain (loss) on sales of real estate	(32)	0	(26)	0
Total other income (expense)	(32)	0	(26)	(73)
Income in subsidiary	0	0	0	0
Income before income tax expense	36,590	1,886	40,710	5,469
Income tax benefit (expense)	(22)	(21)	(118)	(48)
Net income	36,568	1,865	40,592	5,421
Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests	26	25	42	66
Net income attributable to Sabra Health Care REIT, Inc.	36,594	1,890	40,634	5,487
Preferred stock dividends	0	0	0	0
Net income attributable to common stockholders	$ 36,594	$ 1,890	$ 40,634	$ 5,487