Many people incorrectly believe that once seniors enter a nursing home, their freedom is over. In fact, nursing home residents have many rights, and it is important to know those rights and to be able to enforce them.
Nursing home residents’ rights are protected under federal law. In broad terms, nursing homes are required to ensure that every resident be given whatever services are necessary to function at the highest level possible.
Residents have a right to privacy in all aspects of their care. Residents may bring belongings from home, and nursing home staff members are required to assist residents in protecting those belonging. Residents may not be moved to a different room, a different nursing home, a hospital, back home or anywhere else without advance notice and an opportunity for appeal.
If a disagreement with the nursing home does arise, there are a number of steps you can take to enforce the resident’s rights. The first step is to talk to the nursing home staff directly. This may be all it takes to solve the problem. If that does not work, then you may need to talk to a supervisor or administrator.
If you are still unable to resolve the issue, the next step is to contact the ombudsperson assigned to the nursing home. You can find contact information for the Ombudsman Program in California at The Office of the Ombudsman, at www.aging.ca.gov/Programs/LTCOP.
Additional steps include reporting the nursing home to its licensing agency and hiring a geriatric care manager to intervene. If the direct approach isn’t working, you may need to hire a lawyer to resolve the issues. The last resort is to move the resident to a different facility.
Ms. MacDonald’s practice is limited to Estate Planning, Probate, Elder Law and Trust Administration. Ms. MacDonald maintains her practice in the Santa Clarita Valley at 25115 Avenue Stanford, Suite B-124 in Valencia. She can be reached at 661-294-6464.