Federal Nursing Home Regulations

What Nursing Homes Must Do

The Federal Government has long recognized the rights of the elderly and the need to vigorously protect them from harm when they enter nursing homes.  The Omnibus Budget and Reconciliation of 1987 (OBRA) includes a long list of nursing home responsibilities that apply to New Jersey nursing homes and facilities throughout the United States. This law and the related regulations require that all nursing homes must:

• Have sufficient nursing and other staff to provide nursing and related services in order to attain or maintain the well being of each resident, as determined by resident assessments and individual plans of care (42 CFR 483.30).
• Be administered in a manner that enables it to maintain the highest practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well being of each resident (42 CFR 483.75).
• Perform an initial resident assessment within 14 days of admission and periodic assessments of each resident’s functional capacity.  The assessments are required after significant changes in the resident’s physical or mental status and/or at least once every 12 months (42 CFR 483.20).
• Develop comprehensive, individualized care plans for residents that include measurable objectives and schedules to meet each resident’s medical, nursing, mental and psychosocial needs as identified in the comprehensive assessment. The care plan must be developed within 7 days after completion of the comprehensive assessment and 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 (42 CFR 483.20).
• Provide pharmaceutical services to meet the needs of each resident (42 CFR 483.60).
• Prevent medication errors (42 CFR 483.25).
• Prevent the deterioration of a resident’s ability to bathe, dress, groom, transfer and ambulate, toilet, eat, and to use speech, language or other functional communication systems (42 CFR 483.25).
• Provide any necessary services and assistance to maintain good nutrition, grooming, and personal and oral hygiene if the resident suffers from any impairment in activities of daily living (42 CFR 483.25).
• Ensure that residents do not develop pressure sores, and properly treat residents who have pressure sores or are at risk for pressure sores. The nursing home must provide the necessary treatment to promote healing, prevent infection and prevent new sores from developing (42 CFR 483.25).
• Provide care, treatment and preventive services to incontinent residents to: (1) restore as much normal bladder functioning as possible; (2) prevent urinary tract infections (42 CFR 483.25).
• Ensure that residents receive adequate supervision and assisting devices to prevent falls and other accidents. (42 CFR 483.25).
• Take steps to ensure that residents maintain acceptable nutrition, such as body weight and protein levels (42 CFR 483.25).
• Provide residents with enough fluid to maintain hydration and health (42 CFR 483.25).
• Care for residents in a manner that promotes maintenance or enhancement of quality of life (42 CFR 483.15).
• Care for residents in a manner and environment that maintains or enhances each resident’s dignity and respect in full recognition of  their individuality (42 CFR 483.15).
• Maintain clinical records on each resident in accordance with accepted professional standards and practices, and that are complete, accurate, accessible, and systematically organized (42 CFR 483.75).

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Has your mother, father, family member or friend been injured by a nursing home’s violation of federal laws or other nursing home neglect or abuse?  Please fill out the contact form or call the nursing home litigation team at Sugarman Law at 866-657-5660. Sugarman Law obtains compensation for those who suffer injuries and death from nursing home neglect and abuse.

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