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Importance of a Virginia nursing home care plan for residents and families

Nursing home care plans are critically important to Virginia nursing home residents. A care plan is essentially a blueprint written by the nursing home staff with input from the resident and the resident’s family that describes how the resident wishes to be cared for while in the facility. A care plan also details how staff will ensure that the resident does not succumb to painful conditions like bed sores, contractures, broken bones from falls, malnutrition or dehydration.

Care Plan: Assessment

The first step of creating a care plan is the assessment. This step is vitally important, as an incorrect or missing assessment means that the care plan will be incomplete and will not meet the resident’s needs. If you have a loved one in a nursing home, know that an assessment should have been done within seven days of the resident entering the home. Assessments should be repeated at least every year after that, and reviewed every three months or when the resident’s condition changes.

Abuse & Neglect Check: if your loved one’s nursing home is not regularly performing or reviewing assessments, the potential for abuse exists. Not only is the home not following the law, but they may miss important treatment for your loved one.

Care Plan: Creating the Plan

After the assessment has been completed, the home has 7 days to create an initial care plan. This plan must address any issues uncovered in the assessment, and must also include needs and concerns raised by the resident and family members. The plan should be reviewed every three months or as the resident’s needs change, and the resident and family members should be invited to attend the review.

A good care plan will contain specific goals and actions that will be taken, will outline a team approach to ensure the resident’s needs are being met, will assign specific tasks to specific staff members, will be written in an easy-to-understand language, and will be updated as your needs change.

Abuse & Neglect Check: is there a care plan in place? When was it last updated? Were you consulted about the plan or any changes that were made? Is the plan being followed? If the plan is not up-to-date, if it is not being followed, or if staff are ‘false charting’ (documenting that they performed steps in the care plan but not actually doing them) – then abuse or neglect may occur.

Concerned about your loved one’s well-being in a Virginia nursing home?

If you suspect that someone you love is the victim of nursing home abuse or neglect in Virginia, please do not hesitate to contact our Norfolk office. You may speak confidentially with one of our sympathetic, skilled Virginia nursing home abuse attorneys about the situation to see if we can help.

Weisberg & Zaleski, P.C.

112 College Place

Norfolk, VA 23510

Toll Free: (800) 690-0235

Phone: (757) 622-7740

Fax: (757) 533-9223




Michael S. Weisberg, P.C.
112 College Place
Norfolk, VA 23510
Phone: (757) 622-7740
Fax: (757) 533-9223
Toll Free: (800) 690-0235
Email: info@weislaw.com
www.weislaw.com