Long-Term Care Survey Alert

MDS Corner:

How Do Mandatory Patient Lifting Require- ments Affect ADL Coding on the MDS?

Check out the pivotal answer to this reader question.

Question: Our facility is thinking about implementing ergonomic-related safety requirements for nursing staff and therapists to use a two-person assist for heavier or more dependent patients or a mechanic lift with two persons operating it in specified cases. If we do so, how would the MDS team go about assessing and coding ADLs for the MDS in terms of support provided?

Answer: Always code the MDS based on what actually occurred. Thus, if two people provided assistance, then that is what you should capture on the MDS.

One note of caution:
If one person is actually providing the assistance and a second person is standing by, you would only capture the hands-on assistance. There is not a coding category that captures hands-on physical assistance and supervision/oversight in the same transfer for either column A or column B.

-- Expert advice provided by Rena Shephard, MHA, RN, RAC-MT, C-NE, president and CEO of RRS Healthcare Consulting Services in San Diego, and founding chair and executive editor of the American Association of Nurse Assessment Coordinators.

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