Moving a loved one into a nursing home requires you to step into unfamiliar territory. Unless you’ve dealt with Colorado nursing homes in the past, there are countless unknowns on procedures, payments, and expectations. Whether you are starting a journey with a nursing facility or have been working with one for some time, it’s important to understand the rights, laws, and regulations that apply to care facilities. That’s why we’ve put together this helpful guide covering the legal rights of Colorado nursing home residents:
Basic Rights of Colorado Nursing Home Residents
Just because someone is a resident of a nursing home doesn’t mean that they lose all autonomy. While living at a care facility, residents have the right to:
- Be treated with dignity, respect, and consideration at all times.
- Meet with family members, visitors, service providers, and state and federal government representatives in a private space.
- Keep and use their personal items and clothing unless these items constitute a health and/or safety danger.
- Privacy in their rooms while receiving medical treatment and during communications, such as phone calls and family meetings.
- Choose their own personal doctor.
- Participate in the planning of their care and treatment, and to also be fully informed about their medical care.
- Keep their personal and clinical records confidential.
- Refuse treatment.
- Live free of physical and mental abuse.
- Remain unrestrained during medical treatment and drug administration unless restraints are necessary to treat medical symptoms.
- Participate in and organize social and religious activities as long as they do not interfere with the rights of other residents.
- Manage their own money and request that the facility manage their personal funds, according to state and federal record-keeping requirements.
- Converse with and engage in activities with other willing residents.
- Issue complaints and have them resolved quickly. If residents cannot resolve issues within the nursing home, their next step should be to contact the local ombudsman.
These rights and regulations apply to all nursing home residents under the Federal Nursing Home Reform Act (FNHRA) of 1987. This act applies to every resident regardless of whether they pay the nursing home privately, or receive assistance through Medicare or Medicaid.
Rights Granted by the Federal Quality Assurance Privilege
Part of the Federal Nursing Home Reform Act is a subsection referred to as the Federal Quality Assurance Privilege. This section notes that a skilled nursing home must maintain quarterly meetings of an “assurance committee.” During these meetings, the committee must “identify issues with respect to quality assessment” and develop and implement “appropriate plans of action to correct identified quality deficiencies.” 42 U.S.C. § 1395i-3(b)(1)(B).
If a care facility fails to create one of these committees, they are in violation of the act. More importantly, they are less equipped to evaluate for areas of improvement after an incident. Typically, one of the first acts of a Colorado nursing home abuse lawyer is to identify whether or not a care facility has one of these committees in place.
Rights Granted by the Colorado Nursing Home Administrators Practice Act
Colorado has enacted its own statutes governing the regulation of nursing homes and administrators, referred to as the Colorado Nursing Home Administrators Practice Act. The act intends to “provide a measure of protection to the residents of nursing homes in this state who are aged or who have disabilities by establishing a means to regulate nursing home administrators to ensure quality administration and sound management of nursing homes.”
Specifically, the act provides grounds for disciplining or dismissing nursing administrators who fail to provide quality administration. Some grounds that allow a nursing home to take action include:
- A felony conviction.
- A suspended or revoked nursing home administration license.
- Falsifying or making erroneous patient logs.
- Violating confidentiality.
- Practicing as a nursing home administrator without a license.
If a care facility fails to discipline an employee for any of the above grounds, a Colorado nursing home abuse lawyer can use that information to strengthen their client’s case.
For more information, you can check out the Colorado Board of Examiners of Nursing Home Administrators.
Rights Against Eviction from a Colorado Nursing Home
Family members of nursing home residents often worry about their loved ones being evicted. This issue can arise when the demand for space in nursing homes outweighs the number of vacancies. However, there are only six reasons nursing homes may evict a resident:
- Non-payment
- The resident is a risk to others’ safety
- The resident is a risk to others’ health
- The resident’s need cannot be met in a nursing home
- The resident no longer needs nursing home care
- The nursing home is going out of business
If a resident is discharged for any of these reasons, written notice and supporting evidence must be provided, typically 30 days in advance. The facility must also provide the phone numbers of the nursing home inspection and licensing authorities, plus instructions on how to appeal the decision.
Call McDivitt Law to Ensure Your Loved One’s Rights Are Protected
McDivitt Law Firm knows that admitting yourself or a loved one into a Colorado nursing home is a difficult process for many families. Sadly, this already fraught situation can be made more painful when nursing home abuse takes place.
If you see signs of elder abuse or believe your loved one is experiencing abuse at a nursing home, we can help you hold the facility accountable. Our Colorado nursing home abuse lawyers have spent decades fighting for people just like you, and will help you win the compensation you need to aid your loved one’s recovery.
Schedule your free consultation with one of our attorneys today.
