Should laws governing Nursing Homes be changed? - Essay
Should laws governing Nursing Homes be changed? student Strayer University
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09 Nov 2012
Should laws governing Nursing Homes be changed? Are the current laws governing nursing homes effective enough for the safety of residents? I am conducting research in order to better understand what my parents and eventually myself will be exposed to. My parents are getting to the age that my wife and I will have to make a decision to care for them or place them in a nursing home. This decision partly scares by reading various articles about treatment of residents. I recently read an article about Maine nursing homes in the Bangor Daily News about a nursing home that simply forgot to give medication to the residents. In the same article they failed to swap out the bed linins for incontinent patients. These two simple acts of going to a room and providing care for people that cannot ask for it themselves is to me grounds for possible criminal actions.
According to 1987 Congress legislation known as the Nursing Home Reform Act, nursing homes “must provide services and activities to attain or maintain the highest practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being of each resident in accordance with a written plan of care.” To participate in Medicare and Medicaid, nursing homes must comply with the federal requirements for long term care facilities. Within this Reform Act it specifically states some of the following requirements that facilities are to provide residents; Provide pharmaceutical services to meet the needs of each resident. (42 CFR §483.60), Maintain dignity and respect of each resident. (42 CFR §483.15), Provide, if a resident is unable to carry out activities of daily living, the necessary services to maintain good nutrition, grooming, and personal oral hygiene. (42 CFR §483.25). If only these three requirements were what a Nursing Home Facility was required to follow, that in itself should provide a safe living
Course:
Instructor:
09 Nov 2012
Should laws governing Nursing Homes be changed? Are the current laws governing nursing homes effective enough for the safety of residents? I am conducting research in order to better understand what my parents and eventually myself will be exposed to. My parents are getting to the age that my wife and I will have to make a decision to care for them or place them in a nursing home. This decision partly scares by reading various articles about treatment of residents. I recently read an article about Maine nursing homes in the Bangor Daily News about a nursing home that simply forgot to give medication to the residents. In the same article they failed to swap out the bed linins for incontinent patients. These two simple acts of going to a room and providing care for people that cannot ask for it themselves is to me grounds for possible criminal actions.
According to 1987 Congress legislation known as the Nursing Home Reform Act, nursing homes “must provide services and activities to attain or maintain the highest practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being of each resident in accordance with a written plan of care.” To participate in Medicare and Medicaid, nursing homes must comply with the federal requirements for long term care facilities. Within this Reform Act it specifically states some of the following requirements that facilities are to provide residents; Provide pharmaceutical services to meet the needs of each resident. (42 CFR §483.60), Maintain dignity and respect of each resident. (42 CFR §483.15), Provide, if a resident is unable to carry out activities of daily living, the necessary services to maintain good nutrition, grooming, and personal oral hygiene. (42 CFR §483.25). If only these three requirements were what a Nursing Home Facility was required to follow, that in itself should provide a safe living
References: e-CFR Part 483 Requirements for States and Long Term Care Facilities, Retrieved October 24, 2012, Retrieved from http://www.ecfr.gov/ Nursing Home Alert, abuse and Neglect lawsuit resource, Retrieved October 19, 2012, from www.nursinghomealert.com Silin, Peter S. (2009), Nursing Homes and Assisted Living: The Family’s Guide to Making Decisions and Getting Good Care. The Johns Hopkins University Press The Associated Press (15 December 2010). Kennebunk Nursing Home cited for forgetting to give meds, other problems, Retrieved from http://bangordailynews.com/ Bruce Vielmetti (October 16, 2012). Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Nursing home rape case settles mid-trial, Retrieved from http://insurancenewsnet.com/ Eunice Park-Lee, Ph.D., and Christine Caffrey, Ph.D.,(14 February 2009). Division of Health Care Statistics, National Center for Health Statistics, Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/index.htm