Linda Elizaitis

A nursing home survey expert gave providers a tip sheet to the most common deficiencies — and how to avoid them — in the first McKnight’s Super Tuesday webcast of 2012.

Linda Elizaitis, president of CMS Compliance Group, said the most common nursing home citations have to do with kitchen sanitation, infection control, management of resident care plans and medication dispensing procedures.

State surveyors also have homed in on matters of resident dignity, according to Elizaitis, who added that a lot of “gotcha” citations result when nurses and CNAs fail to knock on a resident’s door before entering. Other dignity issues include standing while feeding a resident or leaving a resident too exposed during a treatment, she said.

There are plenty of steps facilities can take to prevent common citations. Among the areas to watch are F-312, the provision of eating/drinking, grooming and hygiene assistance, and F-428, the monthly drug review. 

“You should be interviewing your residents and their family members and share as much of this information as you can,” Elizaitis stressed. “Operators need to understand the survey process.”

McKnight’s next Super Tuesday webcasts will be June 5, with payment expert Patricia Boyer discussing reimbursement, and July 10, with regulatory expert Leah Klusch.