This toolkit is intended to assist nursing facilities to prepare for and monitor ongoing survey readiness. Beginning when the anticipated annual standard survey is approximately 8 weeks away, and continuing weekly until the annual standard survey is completed, these tools will guide the team in reviewing facility processes and monitoring for regulatory compliance.
The Survey Ready Toolkit from Proactive Solutions Center is designed to help nursing facilities prepare for, monitor, and maintain survey readiness from 8 weeks out through the arrival of the survey team. This toolkit provides structured, practical tools for both administrative and frontline staff to ensure ongoing compliance and confidence during state and federal surveys.
Inside the toolkit, you’ll find:
Week-by-week checklists guiding your team through facility review and audit tasks leading up to the survey
Discipline- and department-specific checklists to use during the survey, updated daily until completion
Audit tools and references covering all critical areas, from medication administration and infection control to fall prevention, dietary services, and wound care
Templates for survey documentation, logs, and CMS-required forms to streamline preparation and reporting
Ongoing survey readiness reduces risk, strengthens compliance, and prepares staff to respond confidently to surveyor questions and reviews. Using a structured, ready-to-go toolkit saves time and ensures no critical element is overlooked.
Empower your team with a comprehensive, practical toolkit to maintain compliance, ensure survey readiness, and confidently demonstrate high-quality care.
Table of Contents with links to view/download toolkit materials.
How to Use This Toolkit
This toolkit is intended to assist nursing facilities to prepare for and monitor ongoing survey readiness. Beginning when the anticipated annual standard survey is approximately 8 weeks away, and continuing weekly until the annual standard survey is completed, these tools will guide the team in reviewing facility processes and monitoring for regulatory compliance.
Practical Applications
This toolkit can be used to prepare administrative and front-line staff for the questions and critical element reviews that will be conducted by state/federal survey agencies.
Beginning with the Weekly and Week #1 lists, the assigned IDT members may use the audit tools to complete a thorough review of the identified facility systems/programs. Weekly items should be reviewed every week until the annual standard survey team arrives. All other items are reviewed utilizing the 8-week schedule, continuing with each week in succession until the 8 weeks are completed, or arrival of the annual standard survey team, whichever comes first.
Upon completion of the Week #8 items, if the annual standard survey team has not yet arrived, it is recommended that the facility repeat the monitoring tasks outlined for each week beginning with Week #1 and continuing again with each succeeding week until the arrival of the annual standard survey team.
The 8-Week Survey Preparation Toolkit may also be used at any time the facility anticipates a complaint survey to be conducted.
In addition to the week-by-week checklists, this toolkit includes discipline/department specific checklists which are intended to be used upon the arrival of the survey team and again each day until the annual standard survey is completed. These can be found in the Survey in Progress Checklists section.