24-Hour Nursing, On-Call Service and Two-Hour In-Person Response
Sets out how the Agency meets California's core guarantee that a licensed nurse appears in person, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within two hours of receiving information that a patient has a medical need or a safety concern exists: the 24-hour telephone line, the on-call schedule, telephone triage, support for the patient until the nurse arrives, how on-call staff reach management, and the call log that proves every response.
About this policy
- Policy number
- CA-HSP-SVC-01
- Version
- 1.0
- Main rule
- 22 CCR §74820(a)
- Library
- California hospice · 60 policies
- Category
- Service delivery
- Sections
- 18
In short
- A licensed nurse must be at the patient's side within two hours of a call about a medical need or a safety concern, at any hour.
- On-call nurses call back within 15 minutes of getting the call.
- Go whenever the family asks for a visit or the problem cannot be solved safely by phone.
- Until the nurse arrives, stay in touch at least every 30 minutes. Anyone may call 911 in an emergency.
- Log the time each call came in and the time the nurse arrived.
What's inside
18 sections. The full text comes with the One-time Policy Pack.
- Terms of Reference
- 1. Purpose
- 2. Scope
- 3. Definitions
- 4. Policy Statement (22 CCR §74820(a))
- 5. The 24-Hour Telephone Line
- 6. On-Call Staffing
- 7. Taking a Call
- 8. Support Until the Nurse Arrives (22 CCR §74820(b))
- 9. After-Hours Access to Management and Physicians (22 CCR §74848(c)(2))
- 10. Monitoring the Two-Hour Guarantee
- 11. Responsibilities
- 12. Records and Compliance Monitoring
- 13. Staff Training
- 14. References
- 15. Related Policies and Forms
- 16. Approval
- 17. Revision History
An inspector may ask
- If a family calls at 2:00 a.m. because the patient is in pain, what happens, and how soon does a nurse arrive?
- Show me last month's call log. Were all in-person responses within two hours?
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