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Guide to
Nursing Home Residents' Rights
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The
Problem.
More than 1.5 million elderly and disabled Americans reside in more
than 16,000 nursing homes across this country. Despite the
fact that by law, these nursing homes must take steps to attain or
maintain the "highest practicable physical, mental, and
psychosocial well-being of each resident," too many of these
residents are the victims of neglect or abuse by these facilities
and/or their employees.
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Consider a 1998 study by the United
States General Accounting Office (GAO) which concluded that more
than half of the suspicious deaths studied in California nursing
homes were likely due to neglect, including malnutrition and
dehydration. The study further found that nearly 1 in 3
California nursing homes had been cited by state inspectors for
"serious or potentially life-threatening care problems."
The GAO report noted that these same problems can likely be found
across the nation. Despite increased regulatory
oversight of the nation's nursing homes, it is safe to assume that
many violations posing threats to the health and safety of the
residents go unreported. Nursing home inspectors simply cannot
be everywhere at all times. Therefore, family members
with loved ones who are residents of nursing homes must never
take the resident's care for granted and assume adequate protections
are in place. The nursing home resident's only protection may
be the family member's diligence in reporting any perceived
problems.
The Law.
Residents of nursing
homes are guaranteed certain rights under both federal and state
law. Nursing homes must meet residents' rights requirements in
order to receive Medicare and Medicaid funding. Because the
government inspectors cannot be everywhere at all times, it is up to
others, such as the families of residents, with the help of private
attorneys and advocacy groups, to guarantee that the following
rights of nursing home residents and the elderly are protected.
Each and every nursing home resident has the
following rights under law:
- to be provided services to see
that the resident attains or maintains the highest practicable
physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being;
- to be free from abuse and
exploitation;
- to safe, decent, and clean
conditions;
- to be treated with courtesy,
consideration, and respect;
- to not be subjected to
discrimination based on age, race, religion, sex, nationality,
or disability and to practice the resident's own religious
beliefs;
- to privacy, including privacy
during visits and telephone calls;
- to complain about the institution
and to organize or participate in any program that presents
residents ' concerns to the administrator of the institution;
- to have information about the
resident in the possession of the institution maintained as
confidential;
- to retain the services of a
physician the resident chooses, at the resident's own expense or
through a health care plan, and to have a physician explain to
the resident, in language that the resident understands, the
resident's complete medical condition, the recommended
treatment, and the expected results of the treatment;
- to participate in developing a
plan of care, to refuse treatment, and to refuse to participate
in experimental research;
- to a written statement or
admission agreement describing the services provided by the
institution and the related charges;
- to manage the resident's own
finances or to delegate that responsibility to another person;
- to access money and property that
the resident has deposited with the institution and to an
accounting of the resident's money and property that are
deposited with the institution and of all financial transactions
made with or on behalf of the resident;
- to keep and use personal property,
secure from theft or loss;
- to not be relocated within the
institution, except in accordance with nursing home regulations;
- to receive visitors;
- to receive unopened mail and to
receive assistance in reading or writing correspondence;
- to participate in activities
inside and outside the institution;
- to wear the resident's own
clothes;
- to discharge himself or herself
from the institution unless the resident is an adjudicated
mental incompetent;
- to not be discharged from the
institution except as provided in nursing home regulations; and,
- to be free from any physical or
chemical restraints imposed for the purposes of discipline or
convenience, and not required to treat the resident's medical
symptoms.
The foregoing rights may only
be restricted to the extent necessary to protect a right of another
resident (particularly a right relating to privacy and
confidentiality) or to protect the resident or another person from
danger or harm.
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