Survey response5 min read
Nursing home survey-readiness checklist
A free printable checklist for nursing home administrators and DONs: open corrections, staff records, QAPI, evidence and follow-up responsibilities.
Guides
Field manuals for nursing home administrators.
We explain federal nursing home requirements with links to CMS and other primary sources. Each guide shows its update date and the sources checked. State licensing and assisted living rules need a separate review.
Start with the job in front of you
Find your next step.
Respond to a survey
Read the finding, organize the correction and understand the response process.
- Reading your CMS-2567: findings, deadlines and next steps
- Nursing home Plan of Correction: guide and worksheet
- The nursing home scope and severity grid: A through L
- Immediate Jeopardy: removal plans and verification
- Nursing home IDR and IIDR: eligibility and deadlines
- Nursing home CMPs: notices, disputes and hearing rights
Check staffing and ratings
Reconcile quarterly staffing records, then understand how CMS uses the results.
Maintain readiness between surveys
Connect improvement work with the evidence behind recurring areas of risk.
The Plan of Correction and PBJ guides include free printable working aids. Use them in your own records; no sign-up is needed.
- Plan of Correction6 min read
Nursing home Plan of Correction: guide and worksheet
Build a nursing home Plan of Correction with the five CMS elements, a free working worksheet, review steps and answers about deadlines and acceptance.
- Survey response3 min read
Reading your CMS-2567: findings, deadlines and next steps
Read the tags, scope and severity, findings and response instructions on your CMS-2567 before drafting a Plan of Correction.
- Survey response3 min read
Immediate Jeopardy: removal plans and verification
Separate immediate protective action, removal-plan acceptance, onsite verification and the correction process after nursing home IJ.
- Survey response3 min read
The nursing home scope and severity grid: A through L
The A–L grid, substantial compliance, substandard quality of care and the limits of scope-and-severity disputes.
- Enforcement3 min read
Nursing home CMPs: notices, disputes and hearing rights
Review per-day and per-instance penalties, hearing deadlines, waiver reductions and the separate IDR and IIDR processes.
- Enforcement3 min read
Nursing home IDR and IIDR: eligibility and deadlines
What IDR can challenge, when IIDR is offered, filing deadlines and why neither process replaces a timely formal appeal.
- Enforcement3 min read
Special Focus Facilities: selection and graduation
Current CMS SFF selection, survey frequency, graduation criteria and Care Compare treatment for active participants.
- Quality measures6 min read
PBJ nursing home reporting: deadlines and checklist
PBJ reporting deadlines, iQIES submission, eligible staffing hours and a free printable reconciliation checklist for nursing homes.
- Quality measures3 min read
Five-Star nursing home ratings: the current calculation
The July 2026 CMS methodology: two standard inspections, staffing and quality measures, overall rating adjustments and SFF exceptions.
- Phase 3 RoP3 min read
QAPI for small nursing homes: the five CMS elements
The five QAPI elements, required committee membership, meeting frequency, annual improvement projects and the F865–F868 tags.
- F-tag deep dives3 min read
F689 accident hazards: reviewing a citation and correction
Review the assessment, supervision and environmental findings behind an F689 citation, then connect correction to verifiable practice.
- F-tag deep dives3 min read
F880 infection control: program duties and related tags
Check the IPCP, infection preventionist role, related F-tags, surveillance and reporting responsibilities after an infection-control citation.
Want this work done for you?
These guides cover the same ground Wardwell automates: reading CMS-2567s, drafting PoCs, tracking staff certifications, watching for state-survey patterns. The 30-day pilot takes no card.