Minnesota Nursing Home Physical Standards
Pursuant to Minnesota Administrative Rule 144A.08, PHYSICAL STANDARDS; PENALTY, Subdivision 1., establishment. The commissioner of health by rule shall establish minimum standards for the construction, maintenance, equipping and operation of nursing homes. The rules shall to the extent possible assure the health, treatment, comfort, safety and well-being of nursing home residents.
Additional Nursing Facility Building Standards
Subd. 1a. Corridor doors. Nothing in the rules of the commissioner of health shall require that each door entering a sleeping room from a corridor in a nursing home with an approved complete standard automatic fire extinguishing system be constructed or maintained as self-closing or automatically closing.
Subd. 1b. Summer temperature and humidity. A nursing home, or part of a nursing home that includes resident-occupied space, constructed after June 30, 1988, must meet the interior summer design temperature and humidity recommendations in chapter 7 of the 1982 applications of the handbook published by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc., as amended.
Subd. 2.Report. The controlling persons of a nursing home shall, in accordance with rules established by the commissioner of health, within 14 days of the occurrence, notify the commissioner of health of any change in the physical structure of a nursing home, which change would affect compliance with the rules of the commissioner of health or with sections 144A.01 to 144A.155.
Subd. 3.Penalty. Any controlling person who establishes, conducts, manages or operates a nursing home which incurs the following number of uncorrected or repeated violations, in any two-year period:
(a) two or more uncorrected violations or one or more repeated violations which created an imminent risk to direct resident care or safety; or
(b) four or more uncorrected violations or two or more repeated violations of any nature for which the fines are in the four highest daily fine categories prescribed in rule, is guilty of a misdemeanor.
The provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to any controlling person who had no legal authority to affect or change decisions as to the operation of the nursing home which incurred the uncorrected or repeated violations.
Regulations for Staff Safety
In 2010, nursing care homes and personal care facilities had one of the highest rates of injury and illness among industries for which lost workday injury and illness (LWDII) rates are calculated. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nursing and personal care facilities experienced an average LWDII rate of 4.9 compared with 1.8 for private industry as a whole, despite the fact that feasible controls are available to address hazards within this industry.
Health care workers face a number of serious safety and health hazards. They include bloodborne pathogens and biological hazards, potential chemical and drug exposures, waste anesthetic gas exposures, respiratory hazards, ergonomic hazards from lifting and repetitive tasks, laser hazards, workplace violence, hazards associated with laboratories, and radioactive material and x-ray hazards. Some of the potential chemical exposures include formaldehyde, used for preservation of specimens for pathology; ethylene oxide, glutaraldehyde, and paracetic acid used for sterilization; and numerous other chemicals used in healthcare laboratories.
Attorney Kenneth LaBore has decades of experience and handles the following types of elder abuse claims and others:
Malnutrition
Infectious Diseases (MRSA, C-Diff)
Violation of Resident Rights
Patient Lift Injuries and Other Improper Use of Medical Equipment
For a Free Consultation to obtain information on how to hold negligent wrongdoers accountable from an experienced attorney contact Minneapolis Elder Abuse Neglect Attorney Kenneth LaBore at 612-743-9048 or Toll Free at 1-888-452-6589, email: KLaBore@MNnursinghomeneglect.com.