During this tour, the team will also compare what staff they find on duty with the duty roster, looking for discrepancies. The inspection team may already have certain residents in mind to include in their sample, such as some who were in last year's sample. Inspectors use a table, which helps them decide how many from each category, according to the size of the place. If, for instance, a resident refuses to be interviewed, the team may remove them from the sample, and substitute someone else. They gather information This information-gathering phase is, of course, the meat of the inspection.
Special attention is paid to bedsores, sudden weight loss, and dehydration.
Medication Inspectors observe how drugs are passed out, and they review what drugs the resident has received during the last week, to see whether the drug regimen is necessary, whether it is monitored, whether the benefits outweigh the risks. This concentrates on whether the nursing home has an effective quality assurance committee. Abuse Prevention A nursing home should have plans in place to screen new hires, train staff, identify incidents of abuse, investigate such incidents, and respond to them. Inspectors interview all three shifts to make sure they know how to handle a resident who acts up. Now the team meets to share what they found.