A new bill before Congress aims at protecting nursing home residents by mandating more stringent staffing protocols. Specifically, the Quality Care for Nursing Home Residents Act calls for:
- Increased baseline staffing levels under Medicare and Medicaid.
- Heightened training and supervision obligations for nursing staff.
- Safeguards for whistleblowers for both personnel and residents.
- Bans on coercive arbitration between nursing homes and residents.
- Implementation of a regulated protocol for collecting consent from residents taking psychotropic drugs.