Fire safety inspections for nursing homes
Fire safety specialists inspect nursing homes to measure if they meet standards established by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). The fire safety inspection covers building design and construction and operational features designed to provide safety from fire, smoke, electrical failures, and gas leaks.
Nursing homes are also required to have an emergency preparedness plan, based off an all-hazards risk approach. Nursing homes are surveyed for emergency preparedness, along with a regularly scheduled survey like health or Life Safety Code (LSC)/fire safety inspection.
Nursing homes must meet certain requirements set by the federal government to protect residents, including those about fire safety. If a nursing home has no citations, it means that it met federal standards at time of its inspections.
Each nursing home must make the results of its last full inspection available at the nursing home for anyone to review. For the most current information on nursing homes, or to find out more about inspections, contact your Long Term Care Ombudsman's office or the State Survey Agency in your area.
The Informal Dispute Resolution (IDR) process gives nursing homes that don't meet a specific federal standard a chance to dispute citations. In situations when CMS imposes a fine, nursing homes can request an Independent IDR (IIDR).