New Jersey and PA Nursing Home Abuse and OBRA Regulations

As a New Jersey nursing home abuse law firm, we constantly speak with nursing home abuse victims and/or their families. Many ask if Congress has been actively involved in the prevention of nursing home abuse. While the answer is indeed YES, more work is needed.

Nursing Home Abuse Regulations through OBRA

nursing home abuse attonreys in new jersey and philadelphiaAs far back as 1987, the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging held hearings to determine the scope of abuse that was occurring in nursing homes. The federal government deemed the nature and extent of the abuse occurring in nursing homes to be such a serious concern that at the same time, the United States Office of Inspector General further began an investigation designed to uncover whether or not nursing home abuse was widespread throughout this country’s long term care system. As a result of the Senate and the Inspector General’s investigations, Congress then enacted in the Ombudsman’s Reconciliation Act of 1987, or OBRA .

The act consisted of specific federal laws designed to protect the rights of nursing home patients. These regulations set forth patients’ rights to include an absolute right not to be abused physically or mentally by a nursing home staff. The nursing home guidelines in OBRA further sets specific nursing home guidelines that required nursing homes to set out medical policies, procedures, and practices to minimize patient injuries such as bedsores, malnutrition, falls, and other signs of neglect. Under OBRA, states are required to establish state nursing home departments where patients and their families can file complaints. These state nursing home regulatory agencies are also required to perform prompt investigations of any allegations of nursing home abuse, bed sores, pressure ulcers, bedsores, nursing home negligence and other nursing home quality-of-care issues.

Nursing Home Abuse Should be Reported Promptly!

As a New Jersey nursing home abuse lawyer, we typically advise our New Jersey nursing home law clients to file their complaints with the “Office of the Ombudsman for the Institutionalized Elderly”. This office investigates allegations of bed sores, abuse and neglect of seniors, age 60 and older, who are living in nursing homes and other long-term healthcare facilities. Under New Jersey law, callers are entitled to anonymity, and the abuse investigation files are not open to the public. To file a complaint, you can call the 24 hour toll-free hotline at 1-877-582-6992, or email at ombudsman@advocate.state.nj.us.

As a Pennsylvania nursing abuse lawyer, we advise our Pennsylvania nursing home law clients to file or report any allegation of abuse or neglect with the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman, Pennsylvania Department of Aging, 555 Walnut Street, Fifth Floor, P.O. Box 1089, Harrisburg, PA 17101, Phone (717) 783-7427, Fax (717) 772-3382 or the 24 hour state-wide elder abuse hotline at 1-800-490-8505.

Though Congress’s OBRA protection laws have been around for over 25 years, it appears that Nursing Home abuse is still a systemic problem that continues to plague the quality of life of all seniors. As a nursing home abuse lawyer and advocate, we encourage Congress and States to continue to enact protections for the prevention of nursing home abuse.

Nursing Home Abuse Attorneys in New Jersey and Philadelphia

If you or a loved one have suffered extensively due to the abusive or negligent actions of a nursing home or long term care facility, please contact the Mininno Law Office for a free case evaluation. The NJ and PA nursing home abuse lawyers at the Mininno Law Office are prepared to handle even the toughest cases, in order to earn you the compensation you need and deserve. You may also call for a free consultation at 856-833-0600 in New Jersey, or 215-567-2380 in Philadelphia.

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What is a Nursing Home Care Plan?

A care plan is a document specific to each nursing home resident that identifies all of their medical issues, the treatments the staff is supposed to provide to treat those issues, and a list of goals to reflect the expected improvement their medical condition.
A federal law known as OBRA requires nursing homes to provide a multi-disciplinary team of care givers who are charged with ensuring that the nursing home resident receives the care and services needed to ensure that the resident reaches and maintains “the highest practicable degree of physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being.

This team is primarily made up of physicians, nurses, physical therapists, social workers, and dieticians (and essentially any other discipline involved in the resident’s care).
To deliver on the quality of care the resident and their family were promised by the nursing home, the team must develop a comprehensive care plan which provides a framework for the staff who are treating the resident on a day-to-day basis. To be effective and comprehensive, the care planning process must include the input of all caregivers that are involved in the care of the resident.

Care planning is an essential part of properly caring for a nursing home resident. A good care plan provides a ‘road map’ of sorts, to guide all who are involved with a resident’s care. A caregiver that was just hired, or is coming back to work from a vacation, can look at the care plan developed for a resident and know exactly what needs to be done to care for that resident.
A care plan is not a stagnant or stationary document. The care plan changes just as the resident’s condition changes. The care plan needs to be reviewed and updated by the caregivers, especially when there is a change in the resident’s condition.

What is a Care Plan Conference?

Care plans should be created at a care plan conference held at the nursing home. The resident, and their family members, should be involved in the conference. The nursing home should invite the resident, and their family members to attend the conference. If they don’t, the resident, and their family members should tell the nursing home Administrator that they would like to be present at the conference.
At the care plan conference, the resident’s medical issues are identified and the treatments that the staff is supposed to execute to care for the resident are set forth. Goals for improvement are set. Whether the resident’s health improves, or declines, the care plan needs to be adjusted to reflect the best way to treat the resident at that time.

It is important for the family to attend the care plan conferences because they can discuss what they know about the resident to ensure that the resident’s medical issues are properly identified. It is also important for the family to discuss and understand treatment strategies and goals with the caregivers.
Understanding a resident’s care plan will help the family understand what should be happening at the nursing home, and to bring it to the attention of the Administrator and resident’s physician if the family feels the care plan is not being followed. Not following the care plan can often lead to nursing home abuse, debilitating falls, and pressure ulcers for the resident.

Relevant Federal Statute concerning Care Plans

$483.20(d) (A facility must…) use the results of the assessment to develop, review and revise the resident’s comprehensive plan of care.

$483.20(k) Comprehensive Care Plans

The facility must develop a comprehensive care plan for each resident that includes measurable objectives and timetables to meet a resident’s medical, nursing, and mental and psychosocial needs that are identified in the comprehensive assessment. The care plan must describe the following:

(i) The services that are to be furnished to attain or maintain the resident’s highest practicable physical, mental, and psychosocial well-being as required under $483.25; and

(ii) Any services that would otherwise be required under $483.25 but are not provided due to the resident’s exercise of rights under $483.10, including the right to refuse treatment under $483.10.

Nursing Home Neglect: Mininno Law Office

If you or a loved one have been the victim of nursing home neglect or abuse, contact the Mininno Law Office immediately and get a free case evaluation. You could also call us toll-free at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia.
Let us work to get you the compensation you deserve.