Nursing Home Resident Rights

Nursing home residents have rights too

Nursing home residents have the same legal rights as anyone else. But institutional settings, combined with physical limitations, often lead to loss of dignity and inadequate care.

Congress passed the Nursing Home Reform Law in 1987, now part of Medicare and Medicaid regulations. The law requires facilities to provide whatever services residents need to function at their highest possible level. It also guarantees specific rights:

1. Residents cannot be physically or chemically restrained without good reason. Physical restraints—vests, hand mitts, seat belts—and chemical restraints like antipsychotic drugs or sedatives are only allowed if a doctor orders them in writing for a limited time.
2. The facility must tell residents the name and specialty of their doctor and how to reach them. Residents can participate in meetings about their care plan.
3. If a resident's health changes or a doctor wants to change treatment, the facility must notify the resident and their doctor, legal representative, or family member.
4. Residents can access their medical records within one business day and get copies at reasonable cost. The facility must explain how to view records or authorize someone else to obtain them.
5. The facility must provide written information about legal rights, including state laws on living wills, health care powers of attorney, and advance directives, plus the facility's policy on following these directives.
6. At admission and throughout their stay, residents must receive full information about available services and charges. Facilities can charge extra for some services and items, but only if they disclose in advance what costs extra and how much.

1. Residents have a right to privacy in personal care, visits with family and friends, and phone and mail communication. The facility must provide private areas for calls and visits to protect both residents' privacy and that of their roommates.
2. Residents can share a room with a spouse, gather with other residents without staff present, and meet with ombudspersons or agency representatives. They may leave the home, attend any church or social group, manage their own money, and keep personal funds out of facility control.
3. Residents choose when to sleep and wake, when to use the bathroom, what to eat between meals, and what clothes to wear. They pick their own activities and how to spend their time. The facility must offer choices at main meals to accommodate different tastes and needs. Residents can manage their own medications.
4. Residents can bring personal possessions like clothing, furniture, and jewelry. Staff should protect these items and help find anything lost. Ask the facility about its policy for replacing missing items. Staff should be kind, courteous, and professional—treating residents as adults.
5. Residents cannot be moved to a different room, facility, hospital, or home without advance notice and a chance to appeal. The facility must show that the move is in the resident's best interest or necessary for the health and safety of other residents.
6. Residents have the right to exercise these rights without interference, coercion, discrimination, or punishment. Speaking up about problems often leads to change. Facilities must help residents raise concerns and address them promptly.