Americans living and working in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic, accounting for roughly a quarter of all U.S. COVID-19 deaths. If you have a spouse, sibling, parent or other loved one in a nursing home, here are 10 key questions to consider asking their facility, as recommended by experts:
1. What is the status of COVID-19 vaccinations in the facility?
- What proportion of residents and staff are fully vaccinated and have received a booster shot? You can find vaccination rates of both residents and staff at any Medicare-certified nursing home and compare them to state and national averages on Medicare.gov’s Care Compare website. Booster data is not available on Care Compare, but you can download a list that includes the booster rates for individual nursing homes here.
- Is the facility tracking when residents and staff are due for boosters?
- Is the facility having trouble accessing or administering vaccines or boosters as residents and staff ask for them? If so, what’s being done to resolve this?
- What is the facility doing to educate residents and staff on the vaccines’ effectiveness and safety?
2. Is the facility screening and testing residents and staff for COVID-19 in line with government recommendations and regulations?
- Are residents and staff, including temporary staff, being screened at least daily for COVID-19 symptoms, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control as Prevention (CDC)?
- Is the facility testing residents and staff as specified by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)?
- If the facility is in a county with a moderate or higher level of COVID-19 community transmission, are unvaccinated staff being tested regularly, as required by the CMS?
- Read the CMS’s full testing requirements for nursing homes.
3. If COVID-19 is detected, is the facility ready to respond quickly to prevent further spread?
- Is there a dedicated person planning and managing the facility’s infection control program, as required by the CMS?
- Is the facility able and ready to implement the correct infection prevention and control protocols, as established by the CDC, to prevent COVID-19’s spread? (For instance, is there a dedicated COVID-19 care unit that’s physically separated from other rooms or units housing residents without COVID-19? Is there staff assigned to work only in the COVID-19 care unit?)
- Read the CDC’s full guidance on infection prevention in nursing homes.
4. Has a positive case been identified at the facility in the past two weeks?
- If so, is the facility performing an outbreak investigation, as required by the CMS?
- How many residents and/or staff have tested positive?
5. Is the facility managing visits in line with government regulations?
- Are all visitors entering the facility being screened for COVID-19 symptoms, as CMS says they should?
- Are the core principles of COVID-19 infection prevention being followed, such as hand hygiene, masks and physical distancing?
- If the facility is in a county with a substantial or high level of community transmission, is it encouraging and/or offering testing for visitors?
- Is the facility encouraging vaccination and boosters for visitors?
- Are residents who leave and return to the facility being screened, tested or quarantined, as recommended by the CMS?
- Read the CMS’s full visitation requirements for nursing homes.
6. How is the facility helping residents stay connected with their loved ones virtually?
- Does the facility have tablets or other technologies to enable virtual calls/visits?
- Is the facility offering to schedule — and assist — residents in calling their loved ones?
7. Does the facility have sufficient levels of personal protective equipment (PPE) — masks, face shields, hand sanitizer, gowns and gloves?
- If not, what is the plan to obtain more and what safety measures are in place in the meantime?
- Are staff, residents and visitors trained on how to properly use PPE?
- Is PPE available for visitors or should they bring their own?
8. How is the facility communicating important COVID-19 information?
- How can family members and resident representatives stay informed on COVID-19 case rates, community transmission rates, vaccination rates, changes to visitation and other issues? Is the facility using phone, email, a website, a newsletter or another platform to provide regular updates? How often are the updates being issued?
- How are residents and staff staying informed on these issues?
- If a COVID-19 case within the facility is confirmed, how long will it take for resident representatives to be notified?
9. Is the nursing home currently at full staffing levels for nurses, aides and other workers?
- If not, how are the care needs of residents — bathing, feeding, medication management, exercise, social engagement, etc. — being met?
- If not, is there a plan to increase staffing levels?
10. Are healthy-living programs back up and running?
- How are communal activities like dining, exercising, socializing and entertainment being adapted in order to follow infection-control practices?
- Have any services been cut?
Source: AARP
We hope this information is helpful to you in the important work you do as a family caregiver.
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