Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 33, § 7301 - Nursing home residents’ bill of rights under the human services law

“Nursing home residents’ bill of rights under the human services law”

A nursing home resident has the following rights:

• The governing body of the facility must establish and implement written policies regarding the rights and responsibilities of residents. These policies and procedures must be made available to residents, guardians, next of kin, reciprocal beneficiaries, sponsoring agency, or representative payees, and to the public.
• The facility’s staff must ensure that each resident is fully informed of his rights and responsibilities and the facility’s services and any charges for services. Reasonable accommodation must be made to communicate the resident's bill of rights to residents with communication impairments and residents who speak a language other than English. The resident must provide a written acknowledgment prior to or at the time of admission and during the stay.
• The resident must be fully informed of his medical condition, is afforded the opportunity to participate in the planning of the medical treatment and to refuse to participate in experimental research.
• A resident has the right to of his personal and medical records be treated confidentially
• The resident has the right to choose the resident's own personal physician, the right to request a second opinion, or receive information concerning care or treatment alternatives.
• The resident has the right to refuse care or treatment, including the right to discharge himself or herself from the facility, and to be informed of the consequences of that action.
• The resident must be provided with professional assessment of pain and its management.

The staff of the facility must ensure that the residents and their families, including a reciprocal beneficiary:

• The right to organize, maintain, and participate in resident or family councils.
• The right to review current and past state and federal survey and inspection reports of the facility, and upon request, to receive a copy of any report from the facility. Copies of reports shall be available for review at any time at one station in the facility. The facility may charge a reasonable amount for more than one copy per resident.