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Nursing Home Reform Act
Nursing homes that receive federal funds must comply with the Nursing
Home Reform Act. A basic tenet of the Act is that a nursing home
must provide services and care to attain or maintain the highest
practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being of each
resident and that this care must be given based on written documentation
for each resident, known as an individualized plan
of care.
Under the Nursing Home Reform Act, nursing homes must also do the
following in order to meet the basic tenet of the Act:
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Employ sufficient nursing and other staff in order to provide nursing
and related services
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Be administered in a way that enables the nursing home to use
resources effectively and efficiently
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Within 14 days of admission, perform an initial comprehensive,
accurate, standardized, reproducible assessment of each resident's
functional capacity. After significant changes in the resident's
physical or mental status and/or at least once every 12 months,
perform such an assessment.
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Develop comprehensive individualized care plans for residents. Care
plans must include measurable objectives and schedules to meet each
resident's medical, nursing, mental and psychosocial needs as
identified in the comprehensive assessment discussed above. The care
plan must be developed within 7 days after completion of the
comprehensive assessment. It must detail the services that are to be
provided. The care plan must also be periodically reviewed and revised
by a team of qualified persons after each assessment.
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Provide pharmaceutical services (including procedures that assure the
accurate acquiring, receiving, dispensing, and administering of all
drugs) to meet the needs of each resident.
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Provide supervised medical care by a physician. The nursing home must
provide or arrange for the services of a physician on a 24 hour per
day basis in case of an emergency.
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Prevent the deterioration of a resident's ability to bathe, dress,
groom, transfer and ambulate, toilet, eat, speak or otherwise
communicate.
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Provide necessary services and assistance in order to maintain good
nutrition, grooming, and personal and oral hygiene if the resident
suffers from any impairment daily living activities.
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Ensure that residents do not develop pressure sores. If a resident has
pressure sores, the nursing home must provide the necessary treatment
to promote healing and prevent infection and development of new sores.
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Provide treatment and services to incontinent residents to restore as
much normal bladder functioning as possible and to prevent urinary
tract infections.
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Ensure that residents receive proper treatment and any devices to
maintain hearing and visual abilities.
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Ensure that residents receive adequate supervision and assistive
devices to prevent falls.
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Ensure that residents maintain acceptable parameters of nutritional
status, such as body weight and protein levels.
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Provide residents with enough fluid to maintain hydration and health.
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Prevent medication errors.
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Care for residents in a way that promotes maintenance or enhancement
of their quality of life.
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Promote resident care in a way and in an environment that enhances
each resident's dignity and respect in full recognition of
individuality.
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Ensure that residents can choose activities, schedules, and health
care consistent with individual interests, assessments, and plans of
care.
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Maintain clinical records on each resident in accordance with accepted
professional standards and practices that are complete, accurate,
accessible, and systematically organized.
When a nursing home fails to meet a federal regulation, a deficiency
is issued. In 1999, a United States government accounting study found
that one-fourth of nursing homes nationwide continue to be cited for
deficiencies that either cause actual harm to residents or create the
potential for death or serious injury.
In addition to these requirements, nursing home residents are entitled
to certain rights. Click here to
learn about the rights of nursing home residents.
Source: Post Gazette, Sunday, July 23, 2000 "Nursing Home
Staffing Assailed: US Report Suggests Stricter Regulation to Ensure
Better Care".
Put our experience to work for youWhen a loved one as been a victim of nursing home abuse or neglect, you need an experienced law firm that will work hard to protect your loved one's rights. The attorneys at Edgar Snyder & Associates have been helping injury victims and their families for over 25 years. In addition, our highly-rated law firm has represented more than 30,000 injured people and has answered over 350,000 injury-related legal questions. Let us put this experience to work for you. |
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Copyright 2002-2008 NursingHomeAbuseResourceCenter.com is sponsored by the Law Offices of Edgar Snyder & Associates, A Law Firm Representing Injured People. Attorney Edgar Snyder & Associates has offices throughout Western Pennsylvania including locations in: Erie,PA; Johnstown,Penna; Ebensburg, Pennsylvania and Altoona, PA. All of our lawyers are licensed to practice law in the state of Pennsylvania. We also have attorneys licensed to practice law in the states of West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, New Jersey, Georgia and Virginia. Although this website is not intended to solicit clients for matters outside of the states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, and Georgia, if you are injured in an accident, we have relationships with other personal injury attorneys and lawyers throughout the United States.
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