02/19/2020

CMS Releases New Nursing Home Toolkits

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released two new toolkits for safety and quality in nursing homes through the Civil Money Penalty Reinvestment Program. 

The first toolkit is titled ‘Developing a Restful Environment Action Manual (DREAM)’. This toolkit focuses on interventions for staff to implement to promote quality sleep for residents with dementia. The toolkit includes: an implementation guide, handbook, sleep matters video, pocket guide for clinical teams, sleep environment improvement tool and a resident preferences tool.

The second toolkit is titled ‘Head-to-Toe Infection Prevention (H2T)’, and is designed to prevent common infections by improving ADL care. This toolkit includes: an implementation guide, infection prevention handbook, staff presentations, resources for residents and loved ones, an observation guide, a customizing care tool, and a suspected infection investigation tool.