Best Practices are always evolving – it’s the tried and true matched with innovation and creativity.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) periodically visits and surveys assisted living, memory care assisted living and skilled nursing residences. Deficiencies may be identified for improvement, and the building management/administration writes a plan of correction (POC) which when approved by the CDPHE gives the health facility a specific time frame to work on these issues.

Then the health department returns to resurvey. If the situation is not improving as hoped, is more serious, or requires additional support, the Department will ask for a nurse monitor to be engaged. Typically these contracts are for 3 to 12 months. The goal at the end of the nurse monitoring timeline is to have systems successfully functioning in the areas cited so that there will be no repeat deficiencies in future surveys. The health department wants buildings to have support with correcting problems rather than just punitive fines for substandard practice. The names of approved nurse monitors are found on a list maintained by the health department for referral. A nurse monitor can help you improve your building policies and procedures and day to day operations.

As your nurse monitors, we can assist you with training, including specialized memory care training approved by the Alzheimer’s Association which meets the current memory care regulations for staff training.

We can also provide mock surveys and staff position mentoring. Our goal as your nurse monitor is to help you with your survey concerns that is our first focus, but we can also help your overall business. Are we seeing risks or vulnerabilities in your operations that could lead to a citation. Are there policies which are not up to date, are there training elements missing in how staff work with the residents? Are there innovations and creative solutions to challenges that raise the bar of what you are providing? We want to help owners and operators make their organizations the best they can be, and when you engage us as your nurse monitors know we are going to support the owners and the operators in this way as well.