Nursing homes have to be told to “play nice.” In other words, don’t abuse patients. July 10, 2009

Your mother used to tell you to “play nice.”  What she meant was don’t hit your friends, don’t yell at them, don’t ignore them, don’t take things away from them, share and don’t call them names.  Your mom usually told you to “play nice” when you were violating one of these rules.  You were probably about two years old at the time.

Despite the fact that nursing homes employ people who are more than two years old, the federal government has to tell them to play nice. In fact the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have to publish new rules about how to play nice all the time.  The government creates these rules in response to observations that nursing home employees are not treating residents respectfully. In June of this year the government again had to publish some new rules about playing nice.  Here are some examples of the rules.  They are just like your mom’s rules although they are phrased in more grown-up language:

1. Each resident has the right to be free from mistreatment, neglect and misappropriation of property.

2. Staff [should not] interact/converse only with each other rather than with residents while assisting residents.

3. [Staff should] respect residents’ private space and property (e.g., not changing radio or television station without resident’s permission.

4. [Staff should] respect residents by speaking respectfully, addressing the resident with a name of the resident’s choice, [and]  avoid use of labels for residents such as “feeders.”

 5. [Staff should] maintain resident privacy of body including keeping residents sufficiently covered, such as with a robe, while      being taken to areas outside their room.

That last rule means that nursing homes should not leave a resident in a public area in a wheelchair uncovered without any clothes. Even when you were two years old, you didn’t do that.  Unfortunately in our nursing home abuse practice in Daytona Beach we see just this type of thing happening. The law does allow the resident or family to sue the nursing home for violation of resident rights, but our clients would rather be treated with dignity and respect than go to court.

So what we have to say to some nursing home employees is, “Play nice and grow up!”

For more information about nursing home abuse see the nursing home section of our website zqlawyers.com