Code of Maryland Regulations
Title 10 - MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
Part 1
Subtitle 07 - HOSPITALS
Chapter 10.07.09 - Residents' Bill of Rights: Comprehensive Care Facilities and Extended Care Facilities
Section 10.07.09.08 - Resident's Rights and Services
Universal Citation: MD Code Reg 10.07.09.08
Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 19, September 20, 2024
A. A nursing facility shall provide care for residents in a manner and in an environment that maintains or enhances each resident's dignity and respect, and in full recognition of the resident's individuality.
B. A nursing facility may not interfere with a resident's exercise of rights guaranteed under the Constitution or laws of the United States and Maryland.
C. A resident has the right to:
(1) Reside and
receive services in a nursing facility with reasonable accommodations of
individual needs and preferences, except when accommodations would endanger the
health or safety of the resident or other residents;
(2) Receive treatment, care, and services
that are in an environment that promotes maintenance or enhancement of each
resident's quality of life;
(3) A
dignified existence, self-determination, and communication with and access to
individuals and services inside and outside the nursing facility;
(4) Be free of interference, coercion,
discrimination, or reprisal from the nursing facility when exercising the
resident's rights;
(5) Be free
from:
(a) Physical abuse;
(b) Verbal abuse;
(c) Sexual abuse;
(d) Physical or chemical restraints imposed
for purposes of discipline or convenience;
(e) Mental abuse; and
(f) Involuntary seclusion;
(6) Choose an attending physician,
if the physician agrees to abide by nursing facility policies and procedures,
and the regulations in this chapter;
(7) Choose a pharmacy to obtain medications
as set forth in COMAR
10.07.02.15B(3)
and D(3);
(8) Be fully informed in
advance about care and treatment, and of proposed changes in that care or
treatment;
(9) Participate in
planning care and treatment, or changes in care or treatment;
(10) Seek advice from the resident care
advisory committee concerning the options for medical care and treatment for an
individual with a life-threatening condition in accordance with Health-General
Article, §19-370 et seq., Annotated Code of Maryland;
(11) Consent to or refuse treatment,
including the right to accept or reject artificially administered sustenance in
accordance with State law;
(12)
Self-administer drugs if the interdisciplinary team determines that the
practice is safe;
(13) Access the
resident's records within 24 hours, excluding weekends and holidays, upon an
oral or written request;
(14)
Purchase copies of all or part of the resident's records upon request by giving
2 working days advance notice to the nursing facility;
(15) Approve or refuse the release of
personal and clinical records to an individual outside the nursing facility
unless:
(a) Otherwise provided by
Health-General Article, §4-301 et seq., Annotated Code of Maryland;
or
(b) The release is required by
law;
(16) Personal
privacy, including:
(a) Confidentiality of
personal records; and
(b) Privacy
in:
(i) Medical treatment, and
(ii) Personal care;
(17) Privacy in the resident's
room, including the right to have nursing facility staff knock before entering
the resident's room;
(18) Privacy
in written communication, including the right to:
(a) Send and receive mail promptly without it
being opened by anyone other than the resident, except when the resident
requests assistance; and
(b) Have
access to stationery, postage, and writing implements at the resident's own
expense;
(19) Reasonable
access to the private use of a telephone;
(20) Meet or visit privately with any
individual the resident chooses, subject to reasonable restrictions by the
nursing facility on visiting hours and places;
(21) Visit or meet privately with the
following, to whom the nursing facility shall provide reasonable access:
(a) A representative of the Secretary of the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services;
(b) A representative of the
Department;
(c) The resident's
personal physician;
(d) A
representative of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program;
(e) The agency responsible for advocacy and
protection of developmentally disabled and mentally ill individuals in
Maryland; or
(f) Any other legal
representative;
(22)
Visit privately with the resident's spouse or domestic partner,
(23) Consent or deny consent to all visits,
and may deny or withdraw consent at any time;
(24) Examine the results of the most recent
federal and State surveys, including the annual survey and any subsequent
complaint investigations, not otherwise prohibited by law, of the nursing
facility and any plans of correction prompted by these surveys;
(25) Receive notice before the resident's
roommate is changed and, to the extent possible, have input into the choice of
roommate;
(26) Voice grievances,
including those about treatment or care that is or fails to be furnished, and
recommend changes in policies and services, to the staff or administrator of
the nursing facility, the Licensing and Certification Administration, the
Office on Aging, or any other person, without fear of reprisal, restraint,
interference, coercion, or discrimination;
(27) Prompt efforts by the nursing facility
to resolve grievances the resident may have, including those with respect to
the behavior of other residents;
(28) Contact and receive information from
agencies acting as client advocates;
(29) Refuse to perform services for the
nursing facility;
(30) Perform
services for the nursing facility if the resident chooses, only if:
(a) The nursing facility has documented the
need or desire for work in the plan of care;
(b) The plan specifies the nature of the
services to be performed and whether the services are voluntary or
paid;
(c) Compensation for paid
services is at or above prevailing rates; and
(d) The resident agrees in writing to the
work arrangement described in the plan of care, and the contract is part of the
resident's record;
(31)
Share a room with the resident's spouse if both spouses consent and it is not
medically contraindicated; and
(32)
Participate in social, religious, and community activities if the activities do
not interfere with the rights of other residents in the nursing
facility.
D. A resident has the right to participate or refuse to participate in experimental research. When the resident is incapable of making this decision, the resident's appropriate representative may consent for participation in therapeutic experimental research only.
E. The resident or, when applicable, the resident's health care representative, has the right to be fully informed, in a language that the resident or representative can reasonably be expected to understand, of complete and current information about the resident's diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis, unless it would be medically inadvisable as documented by the resident's attending health care provider. If this determination has been made, the health care provider shall, upon written request:
(1)
Make a summary of the undisclosed portion of the medical record available to
the resident or health care representative;
(2) Insert a copy of the summary in the
medical record of the resident;
(3)
Permit examination and copying of the medical record by another health care
provider; and
(4) Inform the
resident or health care representative of the resident's or health care
representative's right to select another health care provider.
F. Resident and Family Groups.
(1) A resident has the right to organize and
participate in resident groups in the nursing facility.
(2) A resident's family has the right to meet
in the nursing facility with the families of other residents.
(3) Staff or other visitors may attend
meetings only at the group's invitation.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Maryland may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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