Nursing Home Regulations, Essay Example

Governing Body

One of the primary concerns of any nursing home facility is assuring that the facility conforms to all local, state, and federal regulations, and provides a quality of resident care consistent with these regulations. In order to ensure such compliance and quality of care, a nursing home is required to form and maintain a governing body or legal authority organization to oversee such matters. The standards for this governing body are spelled out in state-mandated guidelines, and cover all aspects of nursing home care.

This governing body is charged with overseeing a range of concerns and issues. One of the primary concerns is assuring that the facility provides a consistent level of quality care to all residents without discriminating against any of them on the basis of race, creed, color, national origin, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, or disability. Further matters covered by the governing body include establishing an administrator or other equivalent position to monitor the facility and assure compliance with all rules, regulations, and other concerns related to legal matters and resident care.

The structural nature of this governing body must be clearly delineated, and include a list of all key members of the organization, as well as organizational charts that spell out the duties and responsibilities of each member, and the manner in which these positions interact. Further, the facility must adopt by-laws and codes explain how the facility will meet its responsibilities to residents and to the law. Such rules, regulations, and administrative positions are a necessary part of running such an organization for a number of reasons. The overriding concern, of course, is the care of residents; putting such an organization in place is the best way to assure that the facility meets the highest possible standards of care. Additionally, it is imperative that the facility meet all legal requirements both from an ethical and from a liability standpoint; as such, the governing body serves to protect the facility against litigation and other concerns.

Adminstrator

The administrator position is the ultimate authority in terms of the legislative requirements for nursing home facilities in this state. The administrator reports to the governing body and also serves as liaison between the governing body and the facility’s medical, nursing, and other staff members.

The administrator has a number of concerns regarding the day-to-day operation of the facility. He or she is charged with ensuring that residents receive services as mandated by the state, and is responsible for assuring that the overall environment in the facility is maintained to appropriate standards. The administrator also maintains the time records and personnel records of all staff members, and also posts the work schedule for staff members.

Additional personnel issues fall to the administrator, such as in any incidents of labor or work disputes. In the case of such a dispute, the administrator must deal with several issues, including notifying the licensing agency of the possibility of a strike, and for developing plans to keep the facility functioning should a strike or other work-related event take place. It is easy to see why the position of administrator is a necessary one, given the range of issues and concerns that a nursing home must deal with on a constant basis. In any nursing home environment, the facility must ensure compliance with all applicable laws, must meet all legal standards of appropriate residential care, and must maintain an adequate staff to do these things. It is necessary to have one position to coordinate all the things, if for no other reason than to ensure that all the various departments are aware of how well the other is function, and to have one person to go to when issues in these various areas arise.