Even in a Nursing Home, Your Loved One Has Rights—Read On, Kentucky.

When your loved one transitions from a private home to a Kentucky nursing home it can feel like she is giving up many rights. There may be, of course, changes that come with communal living, such as common mealtimes and rules. However, there are certain rights that your loved one should continue to enjoy and that should protect your loved one from abuse and neglect. 

Your Loved One Should Receive a Copy of Her Rights 

Some of the rights that your loved one will continue to enjoy will help protect her from emotional, financial, and physical abuse and neglect. For example, if the nursing home receives Medicare funds then your loved one has the right to: 

• Respect. Nursing home residents should be treated with dignity and respected as individuals.
• Stay in control of her money. Nursing home residents retain the right to control their own finances or appoint someone of their own choosing to do so for them.
• Control her own medical care. Nursing home residents have the right to make informed medical decisions, to refuse medications, and to see their own physicians. The nursing home may not make medical decisions for a resident in most non-emergency cases. 

Of course, your loved one also has the right to live without fear and to transfer to a different nursing home or living arrangement if she is unhappy, uncomfortable, or unsafe.