HappyState

Hi! I agree with your answer! I thought to myself, she knows what she's talking about...aha! You cited a facility? Must be you are a surveyor? The parts of your answer that I most agree with and can't emphasize enough is know the definition of a restraint and learn to recognize when something is a restrain and when it is not. Assess, use less restrictive means, care plan and document!

Hi there, If you are really interested in reading about how the survey process is conducted and what the Federal requirements are then I can point you to two documents published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS contracts with State Agencies to conduct surveys for recertification. States also conduct state licensing surveys. State rules are different in each state. Federal requirements are the same in every state. The two Federal documents are: State Operations Manual (SOM) Appendix P: SOM-P This is the survey protocol for long term care facilities. State Operations Manual (SOM) Appendix PP: SOM-PP This is the Guidance to Surveyors for Long Term Care Facilities. In here you will find all the "F-Tags" that are cited when deficiencies are identified. If you want to know what surveyors look for and how they go about the survey process, then this is what you may become familiar with. Appendix P and Double PP are the specific instructions given to surveyors to guide them in their survey process. So much information is contained in these two documents and the files are big. Don't print Appendix Double P unless you have over 500 sheets of paper! take care~