The Belknap County Nursing Home Resident Council meets every month in the activity room. A President and Vice-President are elected every two years. The purpose of the council is to help all residents work with each other and nursing home personnel in developing constructive avenues for change and/or improvements for the benefit of everyone in the nursing home.

B) Resident Rights

C) Responsibilities

1. The resident is responsible for providing to the best of their knowledge, accurate and complete information about current health status, past illnesses, and hospitalizations, medications and other information that will assist the Care team in developing a complete accurate assessment and plan of care.
2. The resident is responsible for reporting changes in health status.
3. The resident is responsible for following both the treatment plan recommended by the Physician and Care team and this facilities rules and regulations affecting care and conduct.
4. The resident accepts responsibility for his/her actions if he/she refuses treatment or refuses to follow the plan of care.
5. Residents are expected to cooperate with one another and staff to ensure a harmonious, pleasant atmosphere. For example, after 10pm, the volume of all TV’s will be lowered to a level where they cannot be heard in the next bed. We suggest the use of earphones after this hour as a satisfactory alternative.
6. The resident shall be considerate of other residents and staff and respect the personal belongings and property of others.
7. Residents should not keep any valuables (monetary or sentimental) in their personal possession. Any valuables retained by the resident are retained at the residents own risk.
8. Residents are expected to attend meals at specific times, in the dining room, if possible. Cooperation with the nursing staff regarding care given, such as schedule of medications and baths is also expected.
9. The resident shall be responsible for assuring financial obligations for services are fulfilled in accordance with the terms of the admission agreement.
10. The resident is responsible for familiarizing themselves with the contents of this booklet.
11. The resident is responsible for choosing a physician who will comply with State and Federal mandates on resident care.
12. The resident is responsible for letting the staff know when leaving or returning to the facility.

D) Grievances and Complaints

1. Complaint procedures
   Any resident, his or her representative (sponsor), interested family member, or advocate may file a grievance or complaint concerning his or her treatment, medical care, behavior of other residents, staff members, theft of property, etc., without fear of threat or reprisal in any form.
   While you are free to voice your concerns to any member of the staff and be assured that appropriate action will be taken, it would be helpful to follow the procedures outlined below:
   1. Obtain a Complaint Report from the nurses’ station.
   2. Answer all questions on the report form, as applicable. Make sure all information is accurate.
   3. Make sure that you sign and date the form.
   4. Give the completed report form to the Social Services Department or to the administrator. If the Social Services Department is not open, or the administrator is not available, you may leave the report with the charge nurse, or you may slide it under the door of the appropriate person you wish to handle the grievance or complaint.
2. Within ten (10) working days of the date you filed the report, you will be informed orally of the results of the investigation. (Note: Complaints of abuse, harassment, or mistreatment will be immediately investigated.)
3. Should you disagree with the findings, recommendations, or actions taken, you may meet with the administrator, or you may file a complaint with any of the agencies listed on the residents’ bulletin board.
4. It is the policy of this facility to assist you in filing a grievance or complaint. Should you feel that our staff has not assisted you in this matter, or you feel that you are being discriminated against for taking such steps, you are encouraged to report such incidents to the administrator at once.

E) Abuse Reporting Policy Statement

All employees of the Belknap County Nursing Home are responsible for protecting the rights of the residents who live here.

Resident abuse can be described as physical violence, threats of assault, verbal abuse, emotional abuse, neglect or any violation of a residents rights.

Belknap County Nursing Home has the following protocols:

1. Screening:
   1. A background check will be completed on all new employees.
   2. An affidavit indicating previous involvement of abuse or neglect is included in the file of all new employees.
2. All new employees receive a copy of the residents rights.
3. All new employees receive a copy of the personnel policies, which includes the abuse reporting protocol.
4. Training:
5. Orientation of all new staff will include abuse reporting.
6. All staff will need to attend a program on residents rights and abuse prevention on an annual basis
7. Examples of incidents to report are:

• Anything that threatens resident safety
• Unnecessary rough handling of a resident
• Foul language to a resident
• Threats of harm, punishment or intimidation
• Shaming a resident for his/her behavior
• Striking or otherwise physically hurting a resident
• Exploiting a resident for money or favors
• Any accident of a resident where the cause is not clear
• Neglect of a resident
• Laughing at a resident or ridicule
• Teasing a resident in an unkind way
• Calling a resident “honey” or “sweetie”, etc, while knowing they do not like this
• Not knocking on closed resident room door
• Not closing privacy curtain when washing or dressing an individual
• Any other contact with a resident that is not considered privileged, therapeutic or appropriate
• Misappropriation of resident property

8.  Reporting:

All staff are required to report any incident reported or witnessed by them to their supervisor that may be considered to be abuse. The supervisor will make a report in writing or verbally to the administrator or the director of nursing.

9. Investigation:

The investigation will follow the guidelines included and will be reported to the state office of ombudsman. Data forwarded will include description of the incident in question, date, name of victim, and perpetrator, witnesses names and position in facility, name of physician and DPOA or next of kin, and plan of correction.

12) Protection:

The privacy rights of all parties will be protected as much as possible.