LPN
To maintain appropriate licensing and Medicare or Medicaid requirements, long-term care facilities need to comply with state and federal regulations regarding staff and patient safety. Annual surveys are typically unannounced to assess compliance with these regulations.
When standards aren’t met, long-term care facilities receive citations, which can “lead to fines, costly corrective action, and lost business due to damaged reputation,” according to Janet Mackenzie, MD, ABPS, CWSP, AAGP, chief medical officer at Vohra Wound Physicians.
Let’s discuss what long-term care/skilled nursing care is, how the surveys are conducted, and the nurse’s role in the survey.
Long–term care facilities provide around–the–clock, onsite medical support. They offer short–term rehabilitation services for those recovering from illness or injury and care for those with ongoing and chronic medical conditions. Long–term care facilities employ medical professionals including RNs, LPNs, and CNAs.
Surveyors, who are sent by the state, review policies, patient records, and procedures of the facility. They also review prior survey results, investigate incidents of policy violations, and ensure everything is accurately documented and that proper protocols have been created. Surveys can last anywhere from a few days to a week or more. It all depends on how long it takes to observe and gather what they need to complete the survey.
A five-star rating system is used to grade a facility. Each facility, according to VOHRA Wound Physicians, receives an overall score and a separate score based on the following components:
Nurses are a vital part of these facilities, so they are responsible for addressing many of the questions asked during the survey. Nurses administer medicine, complete patient vitals, perform wound care, monitor mealtimes, and document all care that is provided. During the survey, nurses might be asked about resident care protocols, patient abuse or injury, and emergency responses, according to VOHRA Wound Physicians.
It can be anxiety-provoking to participate in the state survey, but there are a few ways to decrease anxiety and increase your confidence when they arise:
The surveyor will meet with the staff to explain the outcome. If the facility receives violations, staff have 10 days to respond with a plan of correction. A follow-up survey will evaluate whether steps were taken to improve.
State surveys can be stressful for nursing facilities and their staff, but are necessary to highlight the facility’s strengths and weaknesses in providing nursing care. The more prepared the nursing care staff is to undergo the survey, the easier and the faster the survey will go. It’s most that the surveyors receive all the information and observe all the care they need to accurately grade the facility. If you are a nurse working in long-term care, I hope this article helps you during your next survey.
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