Louisiana nursing home responsiveness requirements

Allegations of abuse, or events causing serious bodily injury, must be reported within two hours to the facility administrator and to other officials including the Health Standards Section and law enforcement; all other allegations must be reported within 24 hours to the administrator and HSS through the department's reporting database, with a written initial notification within 24 hours and a final investigation report to HSS within five working days.

all alleged violations involving abuse, neglect, exploitation, or mistreatment, including injuries of unknown origin and misappropriation of resident property, are reported immediately, but not later than two hours after the allegation is made or discovered, to the administrator of the facility and to other officials (including Health Standards Section (HSS) and law enforcement) where state law provides jurisdiction, if the events that caused the allegation involve abuse or result in a serious bodily injury; or not later than 24 hours after the events that caused an allegation which does not involve abuse or result in serious bodily injury, to the administrator of the facility and to other officials

The facility must develop and implement written policies prohibiting mistreatment, neglect, abuse and misappropriation of resident property, must bar personnel, visitors and residents from verbal, mental, sexual or physical abuse, corporal punishment or involuntary seclusion, and must have policies for screening and training employees and for preventing, identifying, investigating and reporting abuse.

The nursing facility shall develop and implement written policies and procedures that prohibit mistreatment, neglect, and abuse of residents and misappropriation of resident property.

A Louisiana nursing facility must provide or arrange physician services 24 hours a day, seven days a week for emergencies, must have a substitute physician supervise medical care when the attending physician is unavailable, and must keep the attending and emergency backup physicians' names and telephone numbers readily available to nursing personnel (and supply them to the resident or representative on request).

The nursing facility shall provide or arrange for the provision of physician services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in case of emergency.

Licensed nurse coverage must be provided 24 hours per day, with a minimum of 2.35 direct care hours per patient per day, a full-time registered-nurse director of nursing on the day tour, and a designated charge nurse (RN or qualified LPN) responsible for supervising total nursing activities on every tour of duty.

Licensed nurse coverage shall be provided 24 hours per day in the nursing facility. The facility shall develop a policy regarding the nursing services provided by licensed nurses.

Every nursing facility must adopt and make public a statement of resident rights that guarantees the right to private and uncensored communications, expressly including unopened correspondence, access to a telephone, and visitation with any person of the resident's choice.

the right to private and uncensored communications, including but not limited to: a. receiving and sending unopened correspondence; b. access to a telephone; c. visitation with any person of the resident's choice;

The physical-plant rule backs up the telephone right with hardware: at least one resident telephone must be adapted for hearing-impaired residents, mounted at a height reachable from a wheelchair, and placed where a resident can make a call without being overheard.

There shall be at least one telephone adapted for use by residents with hearing impairments at a height accessible to bound residents who use wheelchairs and be available for resident use where calls can be made without being overheard.

The shelter-in-place portion of the emergency preparedness plan must include policies for maintaining and posting a communications plan for contacting emergency services, naming the equipment used, backup equipment, its testing schedule and power supply, and designating a staff position responsible for documenting and contacting emergency services; related provisions require notification procedures for local emergency preparedness offices, families and the department (§9767.C.1.l), next-of-kin contact information physically attached to each resident during evacuation (§9767.C.1.m.vi), and current facility contact information in the plan (§9767.C.1.q).

policies and procedures for maintaining and posting a communications plan for contacting emergency services. The nursing facility shall designate a staff position to be responsible for documenting and contacting emergency services. The communication plan shall include: (a). the type of equipment to be used; (b). back-up equipment to be used if available; (c). the equipment's testing schedule; and (d). the power supply for the equipment being used;

Nurse or care team work areas must be equipped to receive resident calls through a communication system originating from resident rooms, toileting areas and bathing facilities; existing centralized stations may use audible or visible signals including wireless systems, and facilities using decentralized work areas may substitute other electronic systems providing direct resident-to-staff communication. LAC 48:I.9701 defines "Resident Communication System" as "a system that registers calls electronically from its place of origin (the resident's bed, toilet or bathing facility) to the place of receivership."

The nurse/care team work areas shall be equipped to receive resident calls through a communication system from resident rooms, toileting and bathing facilities.

Each resident must be provided a call device located within reach of the resident, which is the room-level counterpart to the nurse work area's communication system.

Each resident shall be provided with a call device located within reach of the resident.