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What About Residents’ Rights? |
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Tuesday, 06 March 2007 |
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An individual who moves into a nursing care facility should not lose the basic rights they have come to expect in other environments. However, life in a nursing care facility is inherently different from life in one’s own home. The facilities and the individual residents who live in facilities must make accommodations for the differences in environment and settings.
A nursing care facility should strive to always protect the rights of its residents. It is also required by state and Federal governments to do so. At a minimum, a facility should insure that residents are treated with dignity and respect at all times. They should be accorded privacy and encouraged to remain independent. Residents should be free from abuse of any kind, should be allowed to make as many decisions about their own care as possible, and should be provided clean, safe and comfortable surroundings.
Upon admission to a facility, each new resident should receive a copy of the Facility’s Residents’ Rights and Responsibilities. At a minimum, the rights in any facility should include:
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A Dignified and Comfortable Living Environment
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Access to Information about the Facility and the Services Provided
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Freedom to Make Individual Decisions
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Protection of Money and Property
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Privacy and Confidentiality
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A Grievance Procedure that is Responsive and Easy to Use
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Participation in Groups and Activities of Your Choice
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Convenient Visits and Communications with Others
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Procedural Safeguards on Admission, Transfer and Discharge
Advance Directives
What is an Advance Directive?
An Advance Directive is a written document that either clarifies an individual’s health care choices or names another individual who is authorized to make health care decisions if the resident/patient can no longer make those decisions.
Iowa recognizes two different types of Advance Directives:
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A Living Will, which is a declaration relating to the use of Life-Sustaining Procedures or;
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A Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care
Both of these documents help medical professionals, caregivers, family members and friends understand a resident’s/patient’s desires and intentions in the area of health care decisions when he/she is no longer able to make his/her decisions known.
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