Access to Communication Devices

F576 includes the residents’ right to have reasonable access to communication devices. This includes the use of a telephone to make or take calls without the residents being overheard. If you have a business phone that residents may use to make or take calls, this should be in a location where the resident can use the telephone privately such as a family room, a private office, through the use of a cordless phone, etc. The residents cannot be expected to make or take phone calls in a common area such as the nurse’s station or dining room if they wish to have a private conversation.

This also includes the use of a cellular phone at the resident’s own expense as the nursing home is not expected to pay for or provide a cellular phone for the resident.

Additionally, residents must have access to other methods of communication including the use of a teletypewriter (TTY) or Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TTD); internet to the extent that it is available to the nursing home and stationery, postage, and writing implements along with the ability to send and receive mail. The nursing home is not expected to pay for the resident to have private Wi-Fi or other internet services if it is not available, but if it is available, the resident should have access to use it. Additionally, stationery, postage, and ability to send mail is at the resident’s expense and the nursing home is not expected to provide this to the resident at no cost.

Resident’s also have the right to send and receive mail, letters, packages, and other materials delivered to the nursing home for the resident through a means other than the postal service which includes the right to privacy of any communication and access to supplies at the resident’s own expense. You must ensure that someone is delivering mail within a reasonable time after the mail is delivered to the nursing home, including on Saturdays. The mail that the residents receive or send at the nursing home must be done privately. The residents can ask you to open their mail and assist them with reading it, but they must receive it sealed. If there are special instructions from the residents or family in this area, it should be documented and care planned. For example, if a resident would not be able to ask you to open their mail and the family request that the nursing home opens cards and reads them to the resident in their absence, then this could be easily care planned to assist the staff in understanding the resident’s desires.

Finally, the resident must have reasonable access and privacy to any electronic communication such as email or video communication if it is available at the nursing home, if the resident pays for it if there is additional expense incurred by the nursing home to provide the access to the resident, and the use must comply with state and federal law. One recommendation with access to the internet is that if you use electronic health records they should be on a private connection that residents and visitors cannot access to ensure they remain private and secure.