N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 10§ 415.1 - Basis and scope
(a) Statement of
purpose.
(1) New York's residential health
care facilities are responsible for the health and well-being of more than
100,000 residents ranging from infants with multiple impairments to young
adults suffering from the sequelae of traumatic brain injury to the frail
elderly with chronic disabilities. For the vast majority of residents, the
residential health care facility is their last home. A license to operate a
nursing home carries with it a special obligation to the residents who depend
upon the facility to meet every basic human need.
(2) Each resident comes to the nursing home
with unique life experiences, values, attitudes and desires, and a singular
combination of clinical and psychological needs. In order to assure the highest
practicable quality of life, the individuality of the nursing home resident
must be recognized, and the exercise of self-determination protected and
promoted, by the operator and staff of the facility. The physical environment,
care policies and staff behavior must at once acknowledge the dependence of the
residents while fostering their highest possible level of
independence.
(3) In writing a code
of minimum operating standards for nursing homes, it is also critical that the
regulator recognize the infinite diversity of the nursing home population. A
code intended to assure the highest possible quality of care and most
meaningful quality of life for all residents must not only accept, but in fact
invite variety in nursing home environments, policies and practices, and
encourage creativity among nursing home managers and staff.
(4) In order to meet obligations to nursing
home residents, this set of requirements, to the extent possible, expresses
expectations for facility operation in terms of performance and outcomes rather
than by dictating structure and process. It is the intent of these requirements
to grant a high degree of latitude and flexibility to administrators and staff
while insisting upon conformance to fundamental principles of individual rights
and to accepted professional standards. In those areas where a detailed process
or procedure is mandated, it is based upon a firm belief that experience has
proven the specific practice to be necessary in all cases to assure the high
quality of care we expect nursing homes to provide.
(5) In addition to the emphasis on
individuality and self-determination, the code reflects certain precepts: that
nursing homes should be viewed as homes as much as medical institutions, with
the resident's psychosocial needs deserving a prominence at least equal to
medical condition; that clinical interventions for the nursing home resident
must be part of a comprehensive approach planned and provided by an
interdisciplinary care team, with the participation of the resident, rather
than through a physician-directed acute care orientation; and that quality
assurance is a work ethic rather than an oversight method or a
department.
(b) General
information.
(1) Nursing homes, which shall
include all facilities subject to article 28 of the Public Health Law and
providing residential skilled nursing care and services and residential
health-related care and services, shall provide such care and services in a
manner and quality consistent with generally accepted standards of
practice.
(2) In accordance with
article 28 of the Public Health Law, nursing homes, as defined in section
415.2 of this Part, and which
include facilities referred to elsewhere in this Title as skilled nursing
facilities, health-related facilities or residential health care facilities,
shall comply with all the requirements of this Part.
(3) Nursing homes shall comply with
construction standards contained in Article 2 of Subchapter C of this Chapter
(Medical Facility Construction).
(4) Nursing homes shall comply with all
pertinent Federal, State and local laws, regulations, codes, standards and
principles including but not limited to those pertaining to nondiscrimination
on the basis of race, color, national origin, handicap, protection of human
subjects of research and fraud and abuse and the Public Health Law, Mental
Hygiene Law, Social Services Law and Education Law of the State of New
York.
(5) The provisions of Parts
700 and 702, of Article 1 of Subchapter C of this Chapter shall not apply to
nursing homes.
Notes
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