South Dakota nursing home responsiveness requirements

The facility must report suspected resident abuse or neglect (and six other event types) to the Department of Health through its online reporting system within 24 hours of discovery, and report the results of its internal investigation no later than five working days after the event.

Each facility shall report any of the following events to the department through the department's online reporting system within twenty-four hours of the discovery of the event: ... (2) An incident or event where there is reasonable cause to suspect abuse or neglect of any resident by any person;

Separately from the Department of Health report, the facility must also report suspected abuse or neglect within 24 hours to the Department of Human Services, law enforcement, or the county state's attorney.

In addition to the reporting requirements in § 44:73:01:07, a facility shall report an event involving any reasonable cause to suspect abuse or neglect of a resident by any person, within twenty-four hours of the discovery of the event, orally or in writing, to the Department of Human Services, a law enforcement officer, or the state's attorney of the county where the facility is located.

Statutory mandatory-reporter duty: nurses, physicians, and other health care professionals who suspect abuse, neglect, or exploitation of an elder or adult with a disability must report within 24 hours, and knowing failure to report is a Class 1 misdemeanor.

who knows, or has reasonable cause to suspect, that an elder or adult with a disability has been or is being abused, neglected, or exploited, shall, within twenty-four hours, report such knowledge or suspicion orally or in writing to the state's attorney of the county in which the elder or adult with a disability resides or is present, to the Department of Human Services, or to a law enforcement officer.

A resident's physician, PA, or nurse practitioner must arrange coverage by an alternate practitioner whenever they are unavailable.

A resident's physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner shall arrange for the care of the resident by an alternate physician, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner during the physician's, physician assistant's, or nurse practitioner's unavailability.

South Dakota expressly incorporates the federal physician-visit requirements of 42 C.F.R. 483.30(c) by reference and bars delegation of tasks the federal rule requires a physician to perform personally.

The facility shall follow the physician visit requirements as outlined in 42 C.F.R. § 483.30(c) (September 17, 2024).

A licensed nurse must be in charge of nursing activities on every tour of duty, with staffing adequate to meet residents' total care needs at all times.

A facility shall maintain a licensed nurse in charge of nursing activities during each tour of duty. The director of nursing may not serve as charge nurse in a facility with an average daily occupancy of sixty or more residents. The facility shall have adequate staff to meet the resident's total care needs at all times.

Every nursing facility must have a full-time registered nurse serving as director of nursing during the day shift, who may not also be the administrator.

A facility shall have a full-time registered nurse designated as the director of nursing who is responsible for the organization of the entire nursing service and who serves during the day shift.

Under the privacy and confidentiality right, a facility must permit each resident to meet, associate, and communicate with any person of the resident's choice in a private place within the facility, and to access and use a telephone without being overheard.

A facility shall provide for privacy and confidentiality for the resident. A facility shall permit residents to: ... (5) Meet, associate, and communicate with any person of the resident's choice in a private place within the facility; ... (9) Access and use a telephone without being overheard.

Detailed nurse-call requirements: a staff call system at every bed, resident toilet, and bathing facility that registers visually and audibly at the staff station, with corridor-intersection signals and specific rules for wired versus wireless systems.

A facility shall provide a staff call system for resident use to summon assistance from staff. The system must be capable of being easily activated by the resident and must register both visually and audibly at the staff station. In a multicorridor nursing unit, additional visible signals must be installed at each corridor intersection. The system must be utilized and maintained in a way that ensures the system is a consistent and effective means for a resident to alert staff of the need for assistance.

As an occupant-protection duty, the facility must provide a resident-activated call system at each bed and in resident toilet and bathing rooms that registers at the staff station serving the unit; wireless systems are allowed.

Provide a call system for each resident bed and in all toilet rooms and bathing facilities routinely used by residents. The call system must be capable of being easily activated by the resident and must register at a staff station serving the unit. A wireless call system may be used;

Each facility must run an ongoing quality-assessment program with facility standards, interdisciplinary review to find and correct deviations, resident satisfaction surveys, utilization review, and documented reporting to the governing body.

Each facility shall evaluate the quality of services provided to residents on an ongoing basis. The evaluation must include establishment of facility standards, interdisciplinary review of resident services to identify deviations from the standards and actions taken to correct deviations, resident satisfaction surveys, utilization of services provided, and documentation of the evaluation and report to the governing body.