Nursing home residents are usually at the mercy of the nursing home staff members who care for them. The elderly residents depend on the staff members for medications, food, personal care and medical care. In some cases, they also depend on staff members to help them get social interaction with other residents. All of these nursing home residents have specific laws to help protect them while they are dependent upon the care of the nursing home.

What are some important points of the Nursing Home Reform Law?

The Nursing Home Reform Law was enacted in 1987 to help protect nursing home residents. It requires that any nursing home that receives payments from Medicare or Medicaid meet certain requirements. The nursing homes must have sufficient staff, develop comprehensive care plans for residents, keep accurate medical records, promote the quality of each resident's life, ensure that all residents are properly supervised and help to maintain each resident's dignity. Even nursing homes that don't accept Medicaid and Medicare must comply with the Elder Justice Act, which is aimed at reducing the incidence of elder abuse by establishing mandatory reporting of certain issues.

What rights do residents have?

Residents of nursing homes have the right to voice complaints without retaliation, to make decisions about their care, to have privacy, to communicate freely, to be free of neglect and abuse, to be treated with respect and to be free of physical restraints. All of these help to ensure that the residents have a good quality of life while they are in the nursing home.

If you think that your loved one is being neglected or abused in a nursing home, make sure that you take action right away to stop the abuse. In some cases, it might also be possible to seek compensation.

Source: FindLaw, " Nursing Home Law Basics ," accessed April 01, 2016