Okla. Stat. tit. 63, § 63-1-1918

A. All principles enumerated in this section shall be posted in

a conspicuous, easily accessible location in each facility. Each

resident and personally appointed representative of the resident, if

any, shall be verbally advised and provided a written copy of such

principles prior to or upon admission to the facility. The facility

shall ensure that its staff is familiar with and observes the rights

and responsibilities enumerated in this section. The facility shall

make available to each resident, upon reasonable request, a current

written statement of such rights and responsibilities.

B. A statement of rights and responsibilities shall include,

but not be limited to, the following:

1. Every resident's civil and religious liberties, including

the right to independent personal decisions and knowledge of

available choices, shall not be infringed upon and the facility

shall encourage and assist in the exercise of these rights;

2. Every resident shall have the right to have private

communications, including telephonic communications and visits and

consultations with a physician or an attorney, and meetings of

family and resident groups or any other person or persons of the

resident's choice, and may send and promptly receive, unopened, the

resident's personal mail;

3. a. Every resident shall have the right, without fear of

reprisal or discrimination, to:

(1) present grievances with respect to treatment or

care that is or fails to be furnished on behalf

of the resident or others to:

(a) the facility's staff,

(b) the facility's administrator,

(c) the facility's attending physician,

(d) the resident's personal physician, if any,

(e) governmental officials, or

(f) any other person, and

(2) organize or to join with other residents or

individuals within or outside of the facility to

work for improvements in resident care.

b. The family of a resident shall have the right to meet

in the facility with other residents' families.

c. Every resident shall have the right to prompt efforts

by the facility to resolve grievances the resident may

have, including those with respect to the behavior of

other residents;

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 63. Public Health and Safety Page 699

4. Every resident shall have the right to manage such

resident's own financial affairs, unless the resident delegates the

responsibility, in writing, to the facility. The resident shall

have at least a quarterly accounting of any personal financial

transactions undertaken in the resident's behalf by the facility

during any period of time the resident has delegated such

responsibilities to the facility;

5. Every resident shall have the right to receive adequate and

appropriate medical care consistent with established and recognized

medical practice standards within the community. Every resident,

unless adjudged to be mentally incapacitated, shall be fully

informed by the resident's attending physician of the resident's

medical condition and advised in advance of proposed treatment or

changes in treatment in terms and language that the resident can

understand, unless medically contraindicated, and to participate in

the planning of care and treatment or changes in care and treatment.

Every resident shall have the right to refuse medication and

treatment after being fully informed of and understanding the

consequences of such actions unless adjudged to be mentally

incapacitated;

6. Every resident shall receive respect and privacy in the

medical care program of the resident. Case discussion,

consultation, examination and treatment shall remain confidential

and shall be conducted discreetly. Personal and medical records

shall be confidential, and shall include such documentation or

information so as to alert a health care provider or an emergency

medical care facility of the existence of a directive to physicians

or a living will;

7. Every resident shall have the right to reside and to receive
examination and treatment shall remain confidential

and shall be conducted discreetly. Personal and medical records

shall be confidential, and shall include such documentation or

information so as to alert a health care provider or an emergency

medical care facility of the existence of a directive to physicians

or a living will;

7. Every resident shall have the right to reside and to receive

services with reasonable accommodation of individual needs and

preferences, except where the health or safety of the individual or

other residents would be endangered;

8. a. Every resident shall be informed by the facility, at

the time of admission, of the facility's policy

regarding the provision of hospice services. The

facility's policy shall:

(1) specify whether the facility provides hospice

services, either directly or through contractual

arrangements with other hospice providers,

(2) specify whether the facility permits hospice

services to be provided in the facility by any

other hospice services or only by hospice

services contracted by the facility,

(3) provide that each resident shall receive a list

of hospice services with which the facility

contracts, and

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 63. Public Health and Safety Page 700

(4) provide for complete disclosure to the resident

of the facility's relationship with any hospice

service that is the result of ownership or an

ownership interest of five percent (5%) or more.

b. If the facility provides hospice services through

contractual arrangements with hospice providers but

does not contract with at least three entities

providing hospice services within a fifty-mile radius

of the facility, it shall, upon the request of a

current facility resident, contract with additional

hospice providers within a fifty-mile radius of the

facility as necessary to provide the resident with a

choice of three providers. This requirement shall

cease to exist when the requesting resident is no

longer living in the facility.

c. A facility shall, at the point that a resident

requires hospice services, again inform the resident

or the personally appointed representative of the

resident, if any, verbally and in writing of the

resident's right to hospice services pursuant to the

facility's policy at the time of the resident's

admission;

9. Every resident shall have the right to receive notice before

the room or roommate of the resident in the facility is changed and

if the resident has a telephone in his or her room, the resident

must be informed of any charges to be incurred when moving;

10. Every resident shall have the right to retain and use

personal clothing and possessions, unless medically contraindicated,

and shall have the right to security in the storage and use of such

clothing and possessions;

11. Every resident shall have the right to receive courteous

and respectful care and treatment and a written statement of the

services provided by the facility, including those required to be

offered on an as-needed basis, and a statement of related charges,

including any costs for services not covered under Medicare or

Medicaid, or not covered by the facility's basic per diem rate;

12. Every resident shall be free from mental and physical abuse

and neglect, as such terms are defined in Section 10-103 of Title

43A of the Oklahoma Statutes, corporal punishment, involuntary

seclusion, and from any physical and chemical restraints imposed for

purposes of discipline or convenience and not required to treat the

resident's medical symptoms, except those restraints authorized in

writing by a physician for a specified period of time or as are

necessitated by an emergency where the restraint may only be applied

by a physician, qualified licensed nurse or other personnel under

the supervision of the physician who shall set forth in writing the

circumstances requiring the use of restraint. Use of a chemical or
ent's medical symptoms, except those restraints authorized in

writing by a physician for a specified period of time or as are

necessitated by an emergency where the restraint may only be applied

by a physician, qualified licensed nurse or other personnel under

the supervision of the physician who shall set forth in writing the

circumstances requiring the use of restraint. Use of a chemical or

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 63. Public Health and Safety Page 701

physical restraint shall require the consultation of a physician

within twenty-four (24) hours of such emergency;

13. Every resident shall receive a statement of the facility's

regulations and an explanation of the resident's responsibility to

obey all reasonable regulations of the facility and to respect the

personal rights and private property of the other residents;

14. Every resident shall receive a statement that, should they

be adjudicated incompetent and have no ability to be restored to

legal capacity, the above rights and responsibilities shall be

exercised by a court-appointed representative;

15. No resident shall be required to perform services for a

facility;

16. Every resident shall have privacy for spousal visits.

Every resident may share a room with the resident's spouse, if the

spouse is residing in the same facility;

17. When a physician indicates it is appropriate, a facility

shall immediately notify the resident's next of kin, or

representative of the resident's death or when the resident's death

appears to be imminent;

18. Every resident shall have the right to participate in

social, religious, and community activities that do not interfere

with the rights of other residents in the facility; and

19. Every resident shall have the right to examine, upon

reasonable request, the results of the most recent survey of the

facility conducted by the State Department of Health with respect to

the facility and any plan of correction in effect with respect to

the facility.

C. No licensed facility shall deny appropriate care on the

basis of the resident's source of payment as defined in the

regulations. Appropriate care shall not include duplication of

services by a nursing home, hospice, or any combination of care

providers.

D. Each facility shall prepare a written plan and provide

appropriate staff training to implement each resident's rights as

stated in this section.

E. Any person convicted of violating any provisions of this

section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of

not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00), nor more than Three

Hundred Dollars ($300.00), or imprisonment in the county jail for

not more than thirty (30) days, or by both such fine and

imprisonment.

F. In addition to the penalties provided in this section, an

action may be brought against an individual by any resident who is

injured by any violation of this section, or who shall suffer injury

from any person whose threats would cause a violation of this

section if carried through, may maintain an action to prevent,

restrain or enjoin a violation or threatened violation. If a

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 63. Public Health and Safety Page 702

violation or threatened violation of this section shall be

established in any action, the court shall enjoin and restrain or

otherwise prohibit the violation or threatened violation and assess

in favor of the plaintiff and against the defendant the cost of the

suit. If damages are alleged and proved in the action, the

plaintiff shall be entitled to recover from the defendant the actual

damages sustained by the plaintiff. If it is proved in an action

that the defendant's conduct was willful or in reckless disregard of

the rights provided by this section, punitive damages may be

assessed.

G. Any employee of a state agency that inspects any nursing

facility or special facility shall report any flagrant violations of
f shall be entitled to recover from the defendant the actual

damages sustained by the plaintiff. If it is proved in an action

that the defendant's conduct was willful or in reckless disregard of

the rights provided by this section, punitive damages may be

assessed.

G. Any employee of a state agency that inspects any nursing

facility or special facility shall report any flagrant violations of

this act or any other statute to the administrative head of the

state agency, who shall immediately take whatever steps are

necessary to correct the situation including, when appropriate,

reporting the violation to the district attorney of the county in

which the violation occurred.

H. Upon the death of a resident who has no sources of payment

for funeral services, the facility shall immediately notify

appropriate county officials who shall be responsible for funeral

and burial procedures of the deceased in the same manner as with any

indigent resident of the county.