Nursing homes are required to assist residents, as needed, with activities of daily living. They are also required to keep residents active and bedbound patients must be regularly turned. Any bedsores must be aggressively treated. Rehabilitation services must be provided as needed. Regular meals must be provided, which are sensitive to a resident s dietary needs.
Residents have a general right to be free of restraints wherever possible.
The fact is that in the majority of instances where elderly residents are restrained it is done to promote the convenience of the staff. Federal and state laws do not tolerate such grounds for restraints, nor are they allowed for purposes of discipline. If restraints are needed to ensure physical safety, they may only be used upon written order of the resident s doctor and must only be used as part of a plan to lead to their eventual elimination or reduction in use. Also, the patient or patient s family must expressly consent to the use of restraints and has the right, after receiving all the facts, to refuse to consent to such restraints. Nursing homes are required to safeguard a resident s property.