§ 488.56 Temporary waivers applicable to skilled nursing facilities.

(a) Waiver of 7-day registered nurse requirement. To the extent that § 483.35 of this chapter requires any skilled nursing facility to engage the services of a registered nurse more than 40 hours a week, the Secretary may waive such requirement for such periods as he deems appropriate if, based upon documented findings of the State agency, he determines that: (1) Such facility is located in a rural area and the supply of skilled nursing facility services in such area is not sufficient to meet the needs of individual patients therein, (2) Such facility has at least one fulltime registered nurse who is regularly on duty at such facility 40 hours a week, and (3) Such facility (i) has only patients whose attending physicians have indicated (through physicians' orders or admission notes) that each such patient does not require the services of a registered nurse for a 48-hour period, or (ii) has made arrangements for a registered nurse or a physician to spend such time at the facility as is determined necessary by the patient's attending physician to provide necessary services on days when the regular fulltime registered nurse is not on duty. (4) Such facility has made and continues to make a good faith effort to comply with the more than 40-hour registered nurse requirement, but such compliance is impeded by the unavailability of registered nurses in the area. (b) Waiver of medical director requirement. To the extent that § 483.70(h) of this chapter requires any skilled nursing facility to engage the services of a medical director either part-time or full-time, the Secretary may waive such requirement for such periods as he deems appropriate if, based upon documented findings of the State agency, he determines that: (1) Such facility is located in an area where the supply of physicians is not sufficient to permit compliance with this requirement without seriously reducing the availability of physician services within the area, and (2) Such facility has made and continues to make a good faith effort to comply with § 483.70(h) of this chapter, but such compliance is impeded by the unavailability of physicians in the area.