Is it difficult for you to get to visit your loved one during “normal” visiting hours at their nursing home? Nursing homes are meant to be like a home away from home and family members should be able to visit their loved ones whenever they are able to. The Nursing Home Reform Law backs the assumption that nursing homes should as homelike as possible and protects those visiting rights for “immediate family and other relatives”.
It is reasonable for a nursing home to ask that if you visit in the middle of the night that you meet somewhere where other residents will not be disturbed. Though, visiting very early in the morning or late at night is a perfectly reasonable time if your loved one has a history of staying up late and would prefer company, or you don’t get off work in time to make normal visiting hours. Being at a nursing home in the middle of the night can also help you to check up on the nursing home and see how they tend to patients’ needs without putting on a show during visiting hours.
Though these visits are completely legal, they can only be made if the resident wants the family member there. If they refuse to see you, then that is their right and you cannot be there. If they lack the mental capacity to make decisions regarding who is visiting them, a representative can make those decisions. If a nursing home denies your right to visit your family member in a nursing home outside of visiting hours, you should inform them of the Reform Law that says that they have to make those arrangements.
If a nursing home is denying you your right to visit your family member in a nursing home outside of visiting hours, that can cause emotional harm to the resident. We are fully equipped to handle cases like these. Please call the Dan Pruitt Law Firm today.