The Legal Rights of Nursing Home Residents

The residents of nursing homes have rights and protections just like any other citizen, and just like any other citizen, when those rights are violated, action must be taken to restore them and have the violators of those rights held to account. In a nursing home, the violation of a resident’s rights could mean that they are abused, neglected, or otherwise mistreated. No one deserves to be treated that way, whether they are in a nursing home or not, which is why those heinous actions must be addressed.

In order to hold the abusive nursing home to account, the family of the abused resident should contact a lawyer who specializes in cases of nursing home abuse. That attorney will fight for the rights of the resident by getting compensation for the damages they experienced due to the abuse. They will also make sure that the nursing home is exposed and held accountable in order to deter them from perpetrating any more abuse in the future. That is why you should contact an attorney as soon as you can if you discover that a loved one has had their legal rights violated in a nursing home.

The Rights and Protections of Nursing Home Residents

There are four different kinds of nursing homes according to the federal regulations, from the lowest level of nursing care to the highest, they are the following:

• Adult Boarding Facilities
• Residential Care Facilities
• Intermediate Care Facilities
• Skilled Nursing Facilities

There are different standards for each level of care with the Intermediate and Skilled Facilities being regulated by the state and federal governments, especially with regard to their participation in Medicare and Medicaid programs. The national standards for all extended care facilities are contained within the Federal Medicare Health Insurance Program for the Aged. You can look for nursing homes though a nursing agency.

Regardless of the level of care, every nursing home facility must formulate and follow written policies and procedures that prevent the abuse, neglect, and mistreatment of its residents. The residents of nursing homes are entitled to receive written or verbal notice of their rights and the services to which they have access during their stay at the facility. The resident must receive this notice in clear, understandable language before or during admission and periodically during their stay; the resident must acknowledge that they received the report in a written statement.

Some of the legal rights to which nursing home residents are entitled include the following:

• The right to see family members
• The right to see representatives of state and local governments
• The right to participate in their medical planning and treatment and the right to refuse medical treatment
• The right to be free from physical and mental abuse
• The right to have their grievances raised and resolved
• The right to be treated equally regardless of whether they are private payers or they receive assistance from Medicare or Medicaid
• The right to participate in social, religious, or community activities as long as they do not impinge upon the rights of other residents
• The right to keep their personal and medical records private

The Rights of Nursing Home Residents Should Be Protected

It is the duty of a nursing home to uphold the rights of its residents and if those rights get violated, then the nursing home should be held accountable and the rights of the residents should be restored. If the family of a nursing home resident learns that the resident’s rights are being violated, then they should contact the Illinois Department of Public Health’s Nursing Home Complaint Hotline at 1800 252 4343 and then call the Rooth Law Firm.