SUMMARIZED CONSOLIDATING INFORMATION - Consolidating Statement of Income (Details) - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Revenues:
Rental income	$ 364,191,000	$ 225,275,000	$ 209,851,000
Interest and other income	15,026,000	27,463,000	25,505,000
Resident fees and services	26,430,000	7,788,000	3,508,000
Total revenues	405,647,000	260,526,000	238,864,000
Expenses:
Depreciation and amortization	113,882,000	68,472,000	63,079,000
Interest	88,440,000	64,873,000	59,218,000
Operating expenses	17,860,000	5,703,000	2,576,000
General and administrative	32,401,000	17,672,000	16,093,000
Merger and acquisition costs	30,255,000	1,197,000	7,023,000
Provision for doubtful accounts and loan losses	17,113,000	5,543,000	12,842,000
Impairment of real estate	1,326,000	29,811,000	0
Total expenses	301,277,000	193,271,000	160,831,000
Other income (expense):
Loss on extinguishment of debt	(553,000)	(556,000)	0
Other income (expense)	3,170,000	10,677,000	2,260,000
Net gain (loss) on sales of real estate	52,029,000	(6,122,000)	(161,000)
Total other income (expense)	54,646,000	3,999,000	2,099,000
Income in subsidiary	0	0	0
Income before income tax benefit (expense)	159,016,000	71,254,000	80,132,000
Income tax expense	(651,000)	(1,049,000)	(749,000)
Net income	158,365,000	70,205,000	79,383,000
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests	18,000	71,000	30,000
Net income attributable to Sabra Health Care REIT, Inc.	158,383,000	70,276,000	79,413,000
Preferred stock dividends	(10,242,000)	(10,242,000)	(10,242,000)
Net income attributable to common stockholders	$ 148,141,000	$ 60,034,000	$ 69,171,000
Net income attributable to common stockholders, per:
Basic common share (in dollars per share)	$ 1.40	$ 0.92	$ 1.11
Diluted common share (in dollars per share)	$ 1.40	$ 0.92	$ 1.11
Weighted-average number of common shares outstanding, basic (in shares)	105,621,242	65,284,251	62,235,014
Weighted-average number of common shares outstanding, diluted (in shares)	105,842,434	65,520,672	62,460,239
Elimination
Revenues:
Rental income	$ (7,513,000)	$ (2,328,000)	$ (1,201,000)
Interest and other income	(161,000)	(253,000)	(304,000)
Resident fees and services	0	0	0
Total revenues	(7,674,000)	(2,581,000)	(1,505,000)
Expenses:
Depreciation and amortization	0	0	0
Interest	(143,000)	0	(261,000)
Operating expenses	(7,531,000)	(2,363,000)	(1,213,000)
General and administrative	0	0	0
Merger and acquisition costs	0	0	0
Provision for doubtful accounts and loan losses	0	0	0
Impairment of real estate	0	0
Total expenses	(7,674,000)	(2,363,000)	(1,474,000)
Other income (expense):
Loss on extinguishment of debt	0	0
Other income (expense)	0	0	0
Net gain (loss) on sales of real estate	0	0	0
Total other income (expense)	0	0	0
Income in subsidiary	(509,045,000)	(219,716,000)	(250,001,000)
Income before income tax benefit (expense)	(509,045,000)	(219,934,000)	(250,032,000)
Income tax expense	0	0	0
Net income	(509,045,000)	(219,934,000)	(250,032,000)
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0	0
Net income attributable to Sabra Health Care REIT, Inc.	(509,045,000)	(219,934,000)	(250,032,000)
Preferred stock dividends	0	0	0
Net income attributable to common stockholders	(509,045,000)	(219,934,000)	(250,032,000)
Parent Company | Reportable Legal Entities
Revenues:
Rental income	0	0	0
Interest and other income	39,000	3,000	2,000
Resident fees and services	0	0	0
Total revenues	39,000	3,000	2,000
Expenses:
Depreciation and amortization	867,000	816,000	47,000
Interest	0	0	0
Operating expenses	0	0	0
General and administrative	24,810,000	15,798,000	14,485,000
Merger and acquisition costs	30,208,000	(7,000)	(14,000)
Provision for doubtful accounts and loan losses	227,000	(1,376,000)	1,291,000
Impairment of real estate	0	0
Total expenses	56,112,000	15,231,000	15,809,000
Other income (expense):
Loss on extinguishment of debt	0	0
Other income (expense)	2,634,000	7,366,000	0
Net gain (loss) on sales of real estate	0	0	0
Total other income (expense)	2,634,000	7,366,000	0
Income in subsidiary	212,432,000	78,783,000	95,690,000
Income before income tax benefit (expense)	158,993,000	70,921,000	79,883,000
Income tax expense	(610,000)	(427,000)	(439,000)
Net income	158,383,000	70,494,000	79,444,000
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0	0
Net income attributable to Sabra Health Care REIT, Inc.	158,383,000	70,494,000	79,444,000
Preferred stock dividends	(10,242,000)	(10,242,000)	(10,242,000)
Net income attributable to common stockholders	148,141,000	60,252,000	69,202,000
Operating Partnership | Reportable Legal Entities
Revenues:
Rental income	0	0	0
Interest and other income	143,000	0	334,000
Resident fees and services	0	0	0
Total revenues	143,000	0	334,000
Expenses:
Depreciation and amortization	0	0	0
Interest	77,767,000	54,589,000	52,208,000
Operating expenses	0	0	0
General and administrative	65,000	56,000	29,000
Merger and acquisition costs	0	0	0
Provision for doubtful accounts and loan losses	0	0	0
Impairment of real estate	0	0
Total expenses	77,832,000	54,645,000	52,237,000
Other income (expense):
Loss on extinguishment of debt	(422,000)	(468,000)
Other income (expense)	1,130,000	(196,000)	1,651,000
Net gain (loss) on sales of real estate	0	0	0
Total other income (expense)	708,000	(664,000)	1,651,000
Income in subsidiary	289,414,000	134,093,000	145,943,000
Income before income tax benefit (expense)	212,433,000	78,784,000	95,691,000
Income tax expense	(1,000)	(1,000)	(1,000)
Net income	212,432,000	78,783,000	95,690,000
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0	0
Net income attributable to Sabra Health Care REIT, Inc.	212,432,000	78,783,000	95,690,000
Preferred stock dividends	0	0	0
Net income attributable to common stockholders	212,432,000	78,783,000	95,690,000
Sabra Capital Corporation | Reportable Legal Entities
Revenues:
Rental income	0	0	0
Interest and other income	0	0	0
Resident fees and services	0	0	0
Total revenues	0	0	0
Expenses:
Depreciation and amortization	0	0	0
Interest	0	0	0
Operating expenses	0	0	0
General and administrative	0	0	0
Merger and acquisition costs	0	0	0
Provision for doubtful accounts and loan losses	0	0	0
Impairment of real estate	0	0
Total expenses	0	0	0
Other income (expense):
Loss on extinguishment of debt	0	0
Other income (expense)	0	0	0
Net gain (loss) on sales of real estate	0	0	0
Total other income (expense)	0	0	0
Income in subsidiary	0	0	0
Income before income tax benefit (expense)	0	0	0
Income tax expense	0	0	0
Net income	0	0	0
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0	0
Net income attributable to Sabra Health Care REIT, Inc.	0	0	0
Preferred stock dividends	0	0	0
Net income attributable to common stockholders	0	0	0
Combined Guarantor Subsidiaries of 2021 Notes and 2023 Notes | Reportable Legal Entities
Revenues:
Rental income	213,162,000	206,897,000	190,582,000
Interest and other income	9,098,000	27,712,000	25,472,000
Resident fees and services	0	0	0
Total revenues	222,260,000	234,609,000	216,054,000
Expenses:
Depreciation and amortization	67,723,000	61,371,000	57,141,000
Interest	2,989,000	3,497,000	1,553,000
Operating expenses	0	0	0
General and administrative	3,854,000	1,652,000	1,411,000
Merger and acquisition costs	47,000	1,204,000	6,868,000
Provision for doubtful accounts and loan losses	16,886,000	6,498,000	11,551,000
Impairment of real estate	1,326,000	29,811,000
Total expenses	92,825,000	104,033,000	78,524,000
Other income (expense):
Loss on extinguishment of debt	(131,000)	(88,000)
Other income (expense)	(617,000)	3,507,000	609,000
Net gain (loss) on sales of real estate	54,627,000	(6,143,000)	(161,000)
Total other income (expense)	53,879,000	(2,724,000)	448,000
Income in subsidiary	7,199,000	6,840,000	8,368,000
Income before income tax benefit (expense)	190,513,000	134,692,000	146,346,000
Income tax expense	(139,000)	(538,000)	(284,000)
Net income	190,374,000	134,154,000	146,062,000
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests	0	0	0
Net income attributable to Sabra Health Care REIT, Inc.	190,374,000	134,154,000	146,062,000
Preferred stock dividends	0	0	0
Net income attributable to common stockholders	190,374,000	134,154,000	146,062,000
Combined Non-Guarantor Subsidiaries of 2021 Notes and 2023 Notes | Reportable Legal Entities
Revenues:
Rental income	158,542,000	20,706,000	20,470,000
Interest and other income	5,907,000	1,000	1,000
Resident fees and services	26,430,000	7,788,000	3,508,000
Total revenues	190,879,000	28,495,000	23,979,000
Expenses:
Depreciation and amortization	45,292,000	6,285,000	5,891,000
Interest	7,827,000	6,787,000	5,718,000
Operating expenses	25,391,000	8,066,000	3,789,000
General and administrative	3,672,000	166,000	168,000
Merger and acquisition costs	0	0	169,000
Provision for doubtful accounts and loan losses	0	421,000	0
Impairment of real estate	0	0
Total expenses	82,182,000	21,725,000	15,735,000
Other income (expense):
Loss on extinguishment of debt	0	0
Other income (expense)	23,000	0	0
Net gain (loss) on sales of real estate	(2,598,000)	21,000	0
Total other income (expense)	(2,575,000)	21,000	0
Income in subsidiary	0	0	0
Income before income tax benefit (expense)	106,122,000	6,791,000	8,244,000
Income tax expense	99,000	(83,000)	(25,000)
Net income	106,221,000	6,708,000	8,219,000
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests	18,000	71,000	30,000
Net income attributable to Sabra Health Care REIT, Inc.	106,239,000	6,779,000	8,249,000
Preferred stock dividends	0	0	0
Net income attributable to common stockholders	$ 106,239,000	$ 6,779,000	$ 8,249,000