How to Create a Nursing Home Survey Readiness Checklist

Running a nursing home comes with its fair share of responsibilities, one of which includes preparing for state surveys.

These inspections check if your facility follows regulations and provides quality care for residents.

Without preparation, your survey team could be scrambling at the last minute. This leads to mistakes that could impact your nursing home's reputation, standing, and funding.

Fortunately, having a survey readiness checklist helps your team stay organized and prepared when surveyors arrive.

This guide will teach you what is a nursing home survey readiness checklist and how to create a survey readiness checklist for your nursing home. But first, let's look at what it entails and why you need one.

What is a Nursing Home Survey Readiness Checklist?

A survey readiness checklist is a tool that helps your nursing home prepare for state and federal inspections by organizing everything you need to pass.

It breaks down key areas like resident care, staff training, safety protocols, infection prevention, medication administration, and other critical element pathways.

By using this checklist regularly, you can stay on top of requirements and address issues before inspectors arrive.

Think of it as your facility's roadmap to maintain compliance, keep your residents safe, and avoid immediate jeopardy.

Why is a Survey Readiness Checklist Important for Nursing Homes?

A survey readiness checklist is important for several reasons. Let's take a closer look at each one below:

Maintain Compliance with Federal and State Laws

A readiness checklist helps your nursing home meet state and federal regulations, from proper documentation to maintaining a clean, healthy environment.

You can reduce the risk of violations during the facility assessment when you have a system that checks for compliance.

Likewise, you can maintain your license and certification to provide Medicaid services. This allows you to operate legally and safely, which can attract more residents.

Save Time

Running a nursing home involves keeping current residents safe and healthy while passing state surveys. If you have limited resources, everything can feel overwhelming.

Fortunately, a well-organized survey readiness checklist simplifies many tasks and saves you valuable time.

Instead of scrambling to pull everything together at the last minute, you can follow your checklist to know what the state looks for in nursing facilities.

You don't have to panic and search for any required documentation. Instead, you can use the checklist as a guide to ensure nothing gets overlooked.

This process frees up time for you and your staff members to focus on delivering quality care to residents.

Improve Staff Preparedness and Confidence

Your staff members play an important role in how well your nursing facility performs during a survey.

By creating a readiness checklist, you can ensure your employees know exactly what’s expected of them.

Whether it’s maintaining individuals’ health records or adhering to safety protocols, they can do their part to meet legal compliance with confidence.

Staff members can also feel prepared for questions or demonstrations during the survey process.

Minimize the Risk of Deficiencies and Citations

One of the biggest concerns during inspections is receiving citations for deficiencies. These citations can lead to penalties, affect your reputation, and even lose funding for Medicaid programs.

Fortunately, using a survey readiness checklist helps you catch and address issues before they become violations.

You can minimize the risks that could negatively impact your nursing facility.

Ensure Resident Safety

When you have a system that checks for potential hazards regularly, you can make residents feel safe in your facility.

A survey readiness checklist can immediately spot dangers in skilled nursing facilities.

It can also identify areas of improvement in medication management, infection prevention, and emergency preparedness, among other factors.

This helps ensure you’re providing a healthy environment where residents can thrive.

How to Create a Nursing Home Survey Readiness Checklist?

After understanding the importance of a survey readiness checklist, the next thing to learn is how to create one.

You can follow the steps below:

1. Research State Requirements

Before anything else, you must gather information on the specific state regulations that apply to assisted living facilities and nursing homes.

Each state has different requirements, so staying updated on state law that covers your facility is important.

You should review guidelines on resident safety, safety protocols, staffing requirements, and emergency preparedness.

Doing so helps you understand exactly what inspectors will be looking for during the survey. It also ensures that your checklist addresses all the necessary compliance areas.

You can find these guidelines on state government websites, through industry associations, or by consulting with legal experts who specialize in nursing home regulations.

2. Identify Key Areas for Inspection

After researching the state regulations, it's time to identify the key areas of your nursing facility that surveyors will inspect.

These areas typically include the following:

• Resident care: Inspectors will assess how well you care for your current residents by checking care plans, medication management, and menu plans.
• Staff training: Surveyors will also check if your employees have the necessary training and certifications to provide proper resident care.
• Safety measures: Officials will review if your nursing home is safe for residents, employees, and guests.
• Facility maintenance: This involves checking cleanliness and sanitation throughout the facility and verifying if medical equipment works properly.
• Documentation practices: Surveyors will assess if your nursing home has accurate and up-to-date documents, such as resident medical files, accident reports, and staffing records.

When you identify these areas early on, you can simplify your preparation efforts and ensure everything is in order before the survey begins.

3. Organize the Checklist

Once you’ve identified the key areas for inspection, consider organizing your checklist to make the survey process more manageable.

You can group items into categories like "Resident Care," "Staffing," and "Safety."

For example, in the "Resident Care" section, you might include reviewing care plans and monitoring medication administration.

Meanwhile, under "Staffing," you can focus on verifying credentials and conducting regular training.

Alternatively, you can organize the checklist by phases of the survey process, such as "Entrance Conference," "Onsite Inspection," and "Exit Conference."

This approach ensures that you are fully prepared for each stage of the survey, from the initial meeting with inspectors to addressing any concerns in the final phase.

Regardless of your preferred organization method, both structures can keep your team focused and reduce the chances of missing an important step.

4. Use a Digital Inspection Platform

Lastly, consider using an audit and inspection platform like MyFieldAudits for a more efficient survey process.

This online platform eliminates the need to manage paperwork, which can be time-consuming and error-prone. Instead, it allows you to create digital checklists tailored to your nursing facility.

A digital inspection platform can also store documents in one place, assign corrective actions, and send reminders when it detects hazards.

It can even automate certain processes, such as updating records or generating reports. This automation saves your nursing facility valuable time and resources.

Plus, it reduces the risk of errors, which helps you maintain compliance with state regulations.

An online inspection platform is particularly useful for larger nursing homes with multiple staff members involved in survey preparation.

However, it can be just as beneficial for smaller facilities with limited resources because it frees up valuable staff to focus on more important tasks.

Since the platform keeps everything in one place, you can make sure that your nursing home is always ready for inspection.

A Detailed Checklist for Nursing Home State Surveys

Below is a sample checklist your nursing home can use to prepare for state surveys.

Resident Care and Services

You must meet each resident's health needs to pass state surveys. Below are the key areas to focus on:

• Care plans: Check if they are complete and updated to reflect the current needs of each resident. This involves reviewing medical components of care plans, tracking goals, and communicating with healthcare providers.
• Nutritional support: Review each resident's dietary restrictions and allergies. Then, create a meal plan that meets these restrictions and the recommended nutritional needs.
• Medication management: Verify that medications are administered accurately and documented properly. You can observe staff members and provide feedback or training when needed. You should also check if medication storage areas meet regulatory standards.
• Daily living assistance: You must assess how your staff helps with activities like bathing, dressing, and feeding to ensure residents receive proper care.
• Residents' rights: Make sure your employees are aware of residents' rights. Develop policies that include rights to privacy, consent, and information.

Nurse Staffing and Competency

Your nursing staff plays an important role in passing state surveys. Focus on the following areas:

• Staffing levels: You must meet the required staff-to-resident ratios of your state to guarantee that every resident receives adequate care.
• Credentials and certifications: You should collect copies of licenses and certifications from your staff members. If they are expired, make sure to address them immediately. Keep these records accessible during state surveys.
• Ongoing training: Verify if nursing staff receive regular training in key areas like infection control, emergency preparedness, and resident care procedures.
• Competency assessments: Conduct regular evaluations of nursing staff to ensure they can handle all aspects of resident care competently. These include administering medications, using medical equipment, and responding to emergencies, among other important tasks.

Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Maintaining a safe environment for both residents and staff is non-negotiable.

You must include the following in your survey readiness checklist:

• Fire safety: Check if fire extinguishers are working, not expired, and placed in an easily accessible area. You must also inspect if hallways are clear and emergency exits are properly marked.
• Infection control: Review hand hygiene practices, check the availability of personal protective equipment (PPE), and verify that isolation protocols are in place for contagious illnesses.
• Emergency drills: Conduct regular fire and disaster drills to make sure all employees are familiar with their roles during an emergency. You should also keep a record of these drills for the inspectors to review.
• Food safety: Check if kitchen staff use gloves, hairnets, aprons, and other protective equipment. You must also review whether food containers are labeled and stored properly.

Environmental and Facility Maintenance

The overall condition of your nursing home speaks volumes about the care residents receive.

The survey team will be looking at every corner of your facility, so it’s important to keep these things in top shape:

• Cleanliness and sanitation: Make sure that all areas of your facility, from resident rooms to common areas, are clean and well-maintained. Regular deep cleaning schedules should be in place.
• Maintenance of equipment: Check if all equipment, such as lifts, beds, and medical devices, is in good working order. You must address repairs promptly.
• Accessibility: Verify if your nursing home is accessible for residents with disabilities. This includes installing proper wheelchair ramps, handrails, and other safety features.
• Facility grounds: Don't forget to inspect the exterior of your nursing facility. You must keep walkways safe and the grounds well-maintained.

Documentation and Record-Keeping

Accurate documentation helps you prove compliance to state surveyors. Make sure everything is properly documented, such as:

• Resident records: Review resident medical records to ensure they are complete, accurate, and up-to-date. This includes care plans, medical histories, and medication logs.
• Incident reports: Record all incidents and accidents, such as falls, medication errors, and resident complaints. Then, include proper follow-up actions implemented to address these concerns.
• Staff records: Check if employee records, including schedules, training logs, and certification updates, are well-documented and easily accessible.

Simplify Survey Readiness Checklists with MyFieldAudits

Want to create accurate and extensive survey readiness checklists? MyFieldAudits is here to help.

They offer a mobile-friendly app that makes it easy to schedule audits, upload high-quality media, track performance, and assign follow-up actions. Imagine having all inspection forms in one place, accessible anytime, anywhere. 

‍On top of providing access to an advanced software solution, MyFieldAudits handles everything from creating the inspection strategy to configuring the platform.

MyFieldAudits can even train enterprise clients on how to use the software to keep compliance consistent across the board.

Schedule a demo today to get started!

Need more information? Contact MyFieldAudits by dialing (844) 344-7265 or sending an email to info@MyFieldAudits.com.

FAQs About Nursing Home Survey Readiness Checklist

What should nursing homes prioritize during survey preparation?

It depends on the state where your nursing home is located. Since different states have various laws that cover facilities, you must carefully review the regulations covering your location.

That said, most surveyors inspect common areas, such as resident care, staff competency, and safety protocols. Make sure all documentation is accurate and up-to-date. You can also conduct regular staff training to stay compliant with state regulations.

How can nursing homes improve their survey results?

You must use your survey readiness checklist throughout the year, not just before inspections. You should also review care plans, provide ongoing training, and maintain a clean, well-kept nursing facility.

Consider using a digital inspection platform to simplify the survey process and reduce the administrative burden on your staff.

What happens if a nursing home fails state inspections?

If your nursing home fails a survey inspection, you may face fines, sanctions, or even loss of certification. Be prepared to develop a corrective action plan. You can also expect a follow-up visit from state surveyors.

Using a survey readiness checklist can help avoid these outcomes by maintaining compliance year-round.

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