Oregon Administrative Rules for Nursing Homes

Oregon Administrative Rules protect nursing home residents by regulating facilities' supervisors and operations. State agencies oversee licensing of administrators and the provision of care so that nursing homes are safe and provide the care residents need.

Administrator Licensing

• The Board of Examiners of Nursing Home Administrators oversees the licensing, regulation and discipline of those who run facilities. A nursing home administrator must obtain a license by passing an examination or by providing the Board of Examiners a letter of request from the chairperson of the facility's governing body and proof that he has earned a management degree and has a minimum of 10 years experience as a health care manager. An administrator's license expires on June 30 of each year and he may renew it for two years. He must display his license in a "conspicuous place" within the nursing home. He must complete 30 hours to 60 hours of continuing education over one or two years, dependent upon his length of employment during the applicable period. Courses will include personnel, fiscal and physical plant management, government regulations and program implementation.

Regulation of Administrators

• Administrators must adhere to standards for organizational management and general administration; resident care; personnel management; financial management; environmental management and regulatory management and governance. The Board of Examiners enforces the standards and responds to complaints filed against administrators, taking disciplinary action when necessary. The board may discipline administrators for unprofessional conduct, such as failing to follow regulations or violating a board order, or other offenses. The board may deny, suspend or revoke a license or take other disciplinary action.

Dispensing Medication

• Pharmacies that dispense medication to nursing home residents covered by Division of

  Medical Assistance Programs must comply with the rules of the state's Board of Pharmacy. Rules apply to areas such as client confidentiality, approved medications and dosages. Nursing facilities also must comply with billing procedures to receive government reimbursement for medications that are dispensed.

Mental Health Services

• Medicaid-certified nursing facilities are subject to the Mental Health and Developmental Disability Services Division's rules regarding services for residents with mental illness. Nursing home staff must screen all residents annually "for acute symptoms or indicators of mental illness." Potential residents also must be screened. Nursing homes may provide "specialized psychiatric rehabilitative services" for residents. However, more intense "specialized services for mental illness" must be implemented under the care of a physician and mental health professionals in an inpatient psychiatric hospital. A nursing home must relocate a resident requiring advanced care to an inpatient facility. The resident may not return until the "acute" nature of her symptoms has passed.