Senate Bill sb0242

    Florida Senate - 2001                                   SB 242

    By Senator Brown-Waite





    10-264-01

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to nursing home facilities;

  3         creating s. 400.0223, F.S.; providing that a

  4         nursing home facility may not prohibit the

  5         installation of audio or video recording

  6         devices in residents' rooms; providing a

  7         restriction; providing immunity from claims and

  8         legal actions for facilities that install

  9         recording devices in residents' rooms, unless

10         negligence on the part of the facility is a

11         cause of a resident's accident or injury;

12         providing an effective date.

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14  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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16         Section 1.  Section 400.0223, Florida Statutes, is

17  created to read:

18         400.0223  Resident's right to have recording devices in

19  room; notice; presumption of facilities' exemption from legal

20  action.--

21         (1)  A nursing home facility may not prohibit a

22  resident or a resident's family member from installing or

23  having installed in the resident's room an audio recording

24  device or a video recording device, provided that, if more

25  than one person resides in a room, all residents of the room

26  must give their prior written consent to the installation of a

27  recording device.

28         (2)  A nursing home facility that purchases audio

29  recording devices or video recording devices and installs the

30  devices in its residents' rooms is immune from claims and

31  legal action pertaining to any accident a resident is involved

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 2001                                   SB 242
    10-264-01




  1  in, or injury that a resident sustains, while on the

  2  facility's premises, unless the facility is negligent and the

  3  negligence is the legal cause of the resident's injury in

  4  whole or in part. A slip and fall, or any other naturally

  5  occurring accident, that could have occurred in a private home

  6  in the same circumstances must be regarded as simply an

  7  accident, unless there is contributory negligence on the part

  8  of the facility.

  9         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2001.

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12                          SENATE SUMMARY

13    Provides that a nursing home facility may not prohibit
      the installation of audio or video recording devices in a
14    resident's room, as long as all residents in the room
      give their written consent. Provides immunity from claims
15    and legal actions for facilities that purchase recording
      devices and install them in residents' rooms, unless
16    negligence on the part of the facility is a cause of a
      resident's accident or injury.
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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.