Remember That Nursing Home Residents Have Rights
It is important to know that residents of nursing homes have the same rights as those who live in the larger community around them. These rights are detailed in federal legislation passed almost 40 years ago. The Nursing Home Reform Act (NHRA), passed in 1987 with bipartisan effort, was written to specifically provide federal statutory protection to nursing home residents. Most recently, a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court case gave residents of government-owned nursing homes the right to sue such facilities for violating their civil rights under the NHRA.
The general philosophy of the NHRA is to “promote and protect the rights of each resident” of a facility. The law was established to ensure that nursing home residents attain the highest mental, physical, and psychosocial well-being possible. The NHRA applies to any facility that participates in Medicare or Medicaid, which includes the vast majority of nursing homes.
The law is comprehensive and provides a number of very specific rights extended to nursing home residents. It requires each nursing home to care for its residents in a manner that enhances the quality of life of each resident, ensuring dignity, choice and self-determination. A resident should not decline in health or well-being as a result of the way a nursing home provides care.
The federal agency that oversees Medicare and Medicaid recently sent a memorandum to states reminding them that the NHRA requires nursing homes to allow residents to exercise their rights as U.S. citizens, which includes the right to vote.
Additionally, the NHRA puts into place basic rights to protect the resident from harm and provide the right to participate in decision-making and advocacy. A few of the most important basic rights are:
The right to:
freedom from abuse, mistreatment, and neglect,freedom from physical restraints.
privacy
accommodation of medical, physical, psychological, and social needs,participate in the review of one’s care plan, and to be fully informed in advance about any changes in care, treatment, or change of status in the facility and voice grievances without discrimination or reprisal.
Part 483.10 of Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations provides the full list of residents’ rights.
The NHRA also addresses more personal preference issues. While the size and configuration of the room as well as the potential health and safety of other residents may need to be considered and could result in limitations, facilities must allow residents to make their room as homelike as possible and they cannot ban the placement of personal property in a resident’s room. Additionally, nursing homes are not allowed to restrict visitors to specific visiting hours. In fact, residents are allowed to receive family visitors at any time.
Some nursing homes are still out of compliance with the regulations put into place by the NHRA even though it has been the law of the land for many years. Better nursing homes incorporate culture and processes that uphold the requirements of the law and encourage both quality of care and quality of life. Awareness of the rights of residents is key in effectuating change.
Ombudsmen are also a source for advocating for a nursing home’s compliance. Each nursing home has an ombudsman who has been specially trained to listen to residents and help address their concerns. There are several ways to find out who the ombudsman is at your loved one’s facility. You can ask a staff member at the facility, call 800-252-2412, locate the Long-Term Care Ombudsman poster that is required to be hanging in each facility, or visit
Nothing contained in this publication should be considered as the rendering of legal advice to any person’s specific case but should be considered general information.