The Nursing Home Residents Bill of Rights
Did you know that there was a law in Ohio known as the Nursing Home Residents Bill of Rights? The Ohio State Legislature passed this law many years ago and it is known as the Nursing Home Residents Bill of Rights. This law is Ohio Revised Code § 3721.13.
The rights of a nursing home resident in Ohio include the right to a safe and clean living environment.
Nursing home residents have the right to be free from physical, verbal, mental, and emotional abuse and to be treated at all times with courtesy, respect, and full recognition of dignity and individuality.
Nursing home residents have the right to adequate and appropriate medical treatment and nursing care.
Nursing home residents have the right to have all of their reasonable requests and inquiries responded to properly. They have a legal right to have their clothes and their bedsheets changed as the need arises to ensure the resident's comfort or sanitation.
They have the right to participate in decisions that affect their lives including the right to communicate with their doctor and employees of the nursing home in planning the resident's treatment and plan of care and to obtain from their attending physician complete and current information concerning their medical condition, their prognosis, and their treatment plan.
They have a right to confidential treatment of their medical records.
They have a right to privacy during medical examinations.
They have a right to be free from physical or chemical restraints or prolonged isolation.
They have the right to exercise their civil rights.
They have a right to consume a reasonable amount of alcoholic beverages at their own expense.
They have a right to use tobacco at their own expense.
They have the right to retire and to rise in accordance with their own reasonable requests.
They have the right to observe religious obligations and participation in religious activities.
They have a right to private and unrestricted communications with their family.
They have a right to assured privacy during visits by their spouse.
They have the right upon reasonable request to have their room doors closed and to have them not opened without knocking first.
They have the right to retain and use their personal clothing and a reasonable amount of their own possessions.
The Ohio State Legislature guaranteed to nursing home residents in the State of Ohio a variety of rights. Unfortunately, this law was passed because it was determined that nursing homes were not providing their residents with appropriate care. In 2007, the Ohio Supreme Court decided the case of Cramer v. Auglaize Acres, 113 Ohio St. 3d 266; 2007-Ohio-1946. I was personally involved in that case. I had been asked by a group of plaintiff's lawyers, known at the time as the Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers, to write what is called an “Amicus Curiae” brief, or a “friend of the court” brief. I worked with the attorneys who represented the plaintiff in that case to argue that case to the Ohio Supreme Court.
In the Ohio Supreme Court's decision, the Ohio Supreme Court talked about the fact that Ohio Revised Code § 3721.13 enumerates 32 subsections outlining nursing home residents rights. The administrator of a nursing home is required to prominently post the Nursing Home Residents Rights as listed in the statute. The Ohio Supreme Court went on to indicate that there are three alternative remedies when a nursing home resident's rights have been violated. The resident can file a grievance with the grievance committee established pursuant to law in the home. Anybody who believes that a residents' rights have been violated can file a report with the Ohio Department of Health. Or the resident or the residents' sponsor can file a civil lawsuit against any person or home committing the violation as guaranteed by Ohio Revised Code § 3721.17(i)(1).
The Ohio Nursing Home Residents Bill of Rights was enacted back in 1978. House Bill 600 set forth an exhaustive list of rights for the safety, treatment, privacy, and civil rights of nursing home patients. Previous legislation had been viewed as ineffective in ensuring the humane treatment of nursing home patients. The goal of House Bill 600 was not to give special treatment to the residents of nursing homes, but instead to restore those human rights which had been eroded by misunderstanding, administrative convenience or neglect. An Ohio Nursing Home Commission was founded, and they performed an investigation and issued a final report in July 1979. This commission determined the need for these rights.
In addition to the Nursing Home Residents Bill of Rights, which is a law in Ohio, there are also multiple sections of the Ohio Administrative Code, promulgated by the Ohio Department of Health, which provides specific requirements for how nursing home residents are to be treated.
There are also certain sections of the Code of Federal Regulations or the Federal Law which applies to the care of nursing home residents in a nursing home.
All nursing homes in Ohio are required to comply with the Nursing Home Residents' Bill of Rights, the applicable sections of the Ohio Administrative Code, and the applicable sections of the Code of Federal Regulations. The administrator of the nursing home is required to review the policies of the nursing home to ensure that the residents' rights are being enforced. The administrator is required to establish a grievance committee for review of complaints by residents. The administrator is required to furnish each resident and the resident's sponsor, prior to or at the time of admission, with a copy of the Nursing Home Residents' Bill of Rights as well as a copy of the home's policies and procedures, and a copy of the Home of Rules. The administrator of a nursing home is also required to post prominently within the nursing home a copy of the residents' rights, as well as a copy of the home rules and its policies and procedures regarding the rights and responsibilities of the residents.
Nursing home are surveyed once every 18 months or so and also in response to complaints. Any time a surveyor from the Ohio Department of Health determines that a nursing home has violated any of the Nursing Home Residents Bill of Rights, any of the applicable sections of the Ohio Administrative Code, or any of the applicable sections of the Code of Federal Regulations, the home can be cited. Once the home receives a citation, it is required to formulate what's called a “Plan of Correction”, or a plan to address the violations of the applicable laws and/or the inappropriate care. It must submit that “Plan of Correction” to the Ohio Department of Health. The Ohio Department of Health is then obligated to review that Plan of Correction and monitor the nursing home and see if the nursing home is in fact implementing that Plan of Correction. If the nursing home does not formulate an appropriate Plan of Correction or implement that Plan of Correction, it can be fined, the nursing home can lose its right to accept Medicare or Medicaid funding, or the nursing home can lose its license and be shut down entirely.
I've always found it remarkable that the legislature felt compelled to pass a law that guarantees the rights of nursing home residents in a nursing home. It was determined back in 1979 that the operators of nursing homes could not be trusted to provide their residents with humane treatment, and, as a result, it was necessary to pass a set of laws to guarantee the humane treatment of nursing home residents. However, in spite of those laws, we still see nursing home residents who are neglected and abused every day. We receive numerous phone calls from family members sharing with us how their resident has been abused or neglected.
If someone you love has been neglected or abused in a nursing home, please call us at 1-800-OHIO LAW as it would be our pleasure to talk with you and help you in any way that we can.