F312: Assist those residents who need help with eating/drinking, grooming and personal and oral hygiene
F312 is one of the federal requirements every Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing home must meet. CMS describes it as: Assist those residents who need help with eating/drinking, grooming and personal and oral hygiene.
It sits in CMS's quality of life and care category.
CMS Health Deficiencies file, data as of September 1, 2026. The files hold each home's last three standard inspections and three years of complaint visits.
How seriously inspectors rate it
Every citation gets a letter for how much harm inspectors found and how many residents it touched (how to read the letters). 0.0% of F312 citations came from a complaint visit rather than a routine inspection.
By letter: D 2.
What inspectors wrote
Three recent F312 citations from different states, quoted from the inspectors' statements of deficiencies (CMS form 2567). Names are removed by CMS.
Inspectors wrote, May 18, 2017, scope and severity DBased on resident's family & facility interviews it is determined that the facility staff failed to maintain appropriate oral hygiene care for Resident # 95. This was evident for 1 out of 44 residents surveyed during Stage II of the survey process.
Complete Care at Severna Park LLC, Severna Park, MD
Most recent F312 citations
| Inspection | Home | Town | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| November 16, 2017 | Ashland Place Health and Rehabilitation, LLC | Mobile, AL | D |
| May 18, 2017 | Complete Care at Severna Park LLC | Severna Park, MD | D |
Common questions
- What is F312 in a nursing home inspection?
- F312 is the federal requirement to "assist those residents who need help with eating/drinking, grooming and personal and oral hygiene". CMS files it under quality of life and care. A home cited under F312 did not meet that requirement at the inspection.
- How often is F312 cited?
- The CMS files as of September 1, 2026 list 2 F312 citations at 2 nursing homes, 0 of them in the 12 months to that date. 0.0% were rated as actual harm or immediate jeopardy.
- Is a F312 citation serious?
- It depends on the letter. Most F312 citations (100.0%) were rated as potential for more than minimal harm, D to F. None in the current files is at the immediate jeopardy level.
The interpretive guidance inspectors use for each F-tag is CMS's State Operations Manual, Appendix PP. NursingHomeClear reports the citations as CMS records them and is not affiliated with CMS. All F-tags · Methodology