It’s that time of year again when state compliance staff is in search of those who have been naughty or nice. Recent Specialized Care Unit Regulations require that all state surveyors use a new survey process when they conduct their annual nursing home inspection. The goal of this new federal requirement is to provide a more resident-centered focus to the survey and improve the identification of care and quality of life deficiencies.

The good news is a new survey series for 2018 is here to save the day. Industry professionals have released a new series titled FiveTips for a Successful Nursing Home Survey. This new series will run throughout 2018 as a free resource to provide directors with successful compliance strategies.

Here’s a sneak peek.

·        Look at your past surveys and make sure everything is corrected to ensure you don’t get repeated violations.

·        Look at your systems make sure they are up to date and being followed appropriately.

·        Share your expectations and goals with your team and have them share in making those goals a reality.

·        Look at your team and gauge their abilities and skills to what your needing to make your team a strong and successful one.

·        Work on creating a customer-first experience approach (Basically making sure your residents are happy and stay happy as well as your workers) and creating a great work culture will help reduce turnover.

Another interesting finding is the very low number of respite beds available in SCUs across the country and the significant variability regarding admission criteria used and waiting times for admission. We are currently doing further in-depth analysis of the data collected and intend to publish a report on his findings in the fall, a summary of which will be posted on this website. If you would like more information on State Surveys, please follow