AS A LONG-TERM-CARE RESIDENT in a nursing home, you may encounter situations that you feel should be brought to someone’s attention. You may want to tell one of your aides or nurses, but then you may think, “Will they get mad at me or just ignore me?”
When you were admitted, either you or another individual responsible for acting on your behalf signed a contract with the nursing home. In essence this contract states the home will take care of you in exchange for payment. You or your representative should also have been provided with a set of resident rights. Resident rights are codified on a federal and state level nationwide and apply to all nursing home residents. Highlights include:
• To be treated with dignity and respect
• To be free from abuse and neglect
• To receive appropriate care and reasonable accommodations for medical needs, regardless of source of payment. You can obtain a complete copy of your resident rights document from the social worker, activities director, or an administrative member of the facility.
Some of the most common care issues voiced to me by residents during my nursing home visits were call light response delays, missed showers, delays in getting medications, staff attitudes, and food.
Let’s say you are having problems with long delays in responding to your call light on a pretty consistent basis. Because that persistent delay is a violation of your right to receive appropriate care, in addition to your right to be free from neglect, you should feel free to advocate for yourself by voicing this care issue with the clinical administration (the unit manager, director of nursing) or facility administrator. To find out if other residents are having the same issues, you can bring this matter up at a resident council meeting. A third forum is a care conference.
It is not unusual for the administration to tell you that they will look into this issue and take some time while doing so to talk with other residents to see if they are also affected by this same issue. On the other hand, they may tell you that they are short staffed. You are entitled to a timely response from the administration. Also, a facility has the responsibility to make every effort to adequately staff their building 24/7 and meet residents’ needs.
In closing, I urge you to remember that just because you are living in a nursing home, you should not feel you have to put up with anything less than excellence in your care. Your resident rights reflect that you are 100% entitled to the same respect you expected in your life before your admission. So, don’t be afraid to speak up for yourself!
The long-term-care ombudsmen are available to assist you. Our team of staff and volunteers are available for further guidance relative to any problems or general questions you may have. Our team can be reached by calling 419-259-2891 or 1-800542-1874.
Cheryl Zimmerman is an ombudsman associate. ✲
