Nursing Home Reform Act
The nursing home facilities that receive federal
funds are required to comply with the Nursing Home Reform Act. This
includes:
-Employ sufficient nursing and other staff
in order to provide nursing and related services.
-Be administered in a way that enables the
nursing home to use resources effectively and efficiently.
-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.
-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.
-Provide pharmaceutical services (including procedures that assure
the accurate acquiring, receiving, dispensing, and administering
of all drugs) to meet the needs of each resident.
-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.
-Prevent the deterioration of a resident’s ability to bathe,
dress, groom, transfer and ambulate, toilet, eat, speak or otherwise
communicate.
-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.
-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.
-Provide treatment and services to incontinent residents to restore
as much normal bladder functioning as possible and to prevent urinary
tract infections.
-Ensure that residents receive proper treatment and any devices
to maintain hearing and visual abilities.
-Ensure that residents receive adequate supervision and assistive
devices to prevent falls.
-Ensure that residents maintain acceptable
parameters of nutritional status, such as body weight and protein
levels.
-Provide residents with enough fluid to maintain hydration and health.
-Prevent medication errors.
-Care for residents in a way that promotes maintenance or enhancement
of their quality of life.
-Promote resident care in a way and in an environment that enhances
each resident’s dignity and respect in full recognition of
individuality.
-Ensure that residents can choose activities, schedules, and health
care consistent with individual interests, assessments, and plans
of care.
-Maintain clinical records on each resident in accordance with accepted
professional standards and practices that are complete, accurate,
accessible, and systematically organized.
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Reform Act
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