What does State look for?

[ws582]

I'm a new grad and working my first nursing job at a Rehabilitation/LTC facility. Everyone is stressed because the state is due to come in. I've never been through this before, and I'm not exactly sure of all the rules. I've asked over and over for paperwork to study, so I can be ready, but no one has anything they can give me. They all just tell me different things they look for. I'm so nervous and just want to be prepared. Is there a website anyone knows of that will give me the information I'm looking for? Thank you in advance for your help. It's greatly appreciated.

[HappyState]

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~

[ws582]

Wow! What a ton of info! Thank you so much :)

[ItsTheDude]

simply put, state is looking to justify their job, so they will find something.