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We expect nursing homes and assisted living facilities to provide quality care while respecting and dignifying their residents. This is not always the case. Many facilities are inadequately staffed, and do not provide the required level of care to meet residents’ needs even leading to neglect and abuse. 

ABC News in Florida reported in late 2017 that a Pompano Beach nursing home certified assistant (CNA) was caught on video forcefully trying to get a 94-year-old man with dementia, who was unable to speak, off of the bed. She sent him free-falling into a chair, and subsequently hit him on the head. Later she doused him with mouthwash, which created stage three skin ulcers that ultimately proved to be fatal. After the family brought charges against the nursing home, the State of Florida revoked the CNA’s license. 

Federal law guarantees individual resident rights 

Nursing homes and assisted living facilities are held to a high standard of care. The federal Nursing Home Reform Act (NHRA) of 1987 requires that all nursing homes that receive Medicare or Medicaid funds maintain facilities that are safe for their residents. Federal nursing home regulations state, “The resident has the right to be free from verbal, sexual, physical, and mental abuse, corporal punishment, and involuntary seclusion.”  

These regulations define nursing home abuse and neglect as: 

Abuse: an intentional infliction of injury, unreasonable confinement, intimidation, care/service deprivation or punishment that results in physical harm, pain or mental anguish. 

Neglect: a failure, intentional or not, to provide a person with the care and services necessary to ensure freedom from harm or pain; a failure to react to a potentially dangerous situation resulting in resident harm or anxiety. 

Residents cannot be discharged without cause 

Federal law provides that residents have the right to remain in the nursing facility unless a transfer or discharge: 

(a) is necessary to meet the resident’s welfare;

(b) is appropriate because the resident’s health has improved and the resident no longer requires nursing home care;

(c) is needed to protect the health and safety of other residents or staff;

(d) is required because the resident has failed, after reasonable notice, to pay the facility charge for an item or service provided. 

Florida nursing home assisted living resident rights 

Florida guarantees in Section 400.022 of the Florida Statutes, the residents’ rights in nursing homes, licensed assisted living, adult care homes, and other board and care facilities. Resident’s rights include all of the rights granted in federal regulations as well as the rights to privacy, visitation, full disclosure and choice in medical care, and disclosure of services and charges of the facility. 

Florida Law requires that any person who knows, or has reasonable cause to suspect, that a vulnerable adult has been, or is being abused, neglected, or exploited shall immediately report such knowledge or suspicion to the Florida Abuse Hotline on the toll-free telephone number, 1-800-96-ABUSE (1-800-962-2873). 

What to do if a rights violation occurs? 

If a disagreement with the nursing home or assisted living facility does arise, there are a number of steps you can take to enforce the resident's rights which include: 

1. Talk to the nursing home staff directly. This may be all it takes to solve the problem.
2. Talk to a supervisor or administrator.
3. Contact the ombudsperson assigned to the nursing home. He or she should be able to intervene and get an appropriate result. Contact information for the Ombudsman Program in Florida can be found at: https://ombudsman.elderaffairs.org/
4. An additional step includes reporting the nursing home to the licensing agency. 

“When there is an injury to you or a loved one at a nursing home or assisted living facility, you may need to engage an attorney. Our experienced team of attorneys is available to assist you 24/7 to determine your rights,” said Fort Myers Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer, Randall Spivey of Spivey Law Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.A.

Fort Myers Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer, Randall L. Spivey is a Board Certified Civil Trial Attorney – the highest recognition for competence bestowed by the Florida Bar and a distinction earned by less than 2 percent of Florida attorneys. He has handled over 1,500 personal injury and wrongful death cases throughout Florida. For a free and confidential consultation to discuss your legal rights, contact the Spivey Law Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.A., in Lee County at  239. 337.7483 or toll free at 1.888.477.4839, or by email to Randall@SpiveyLaw.com.  Visit SpiveyLaw.com  for more information. You can contact Spivey Law Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.A. in Charlotte County at 941.764.7748 and in Collier County 239.793.7748.