F839: Employ staff that are licensed, certified, or registered in accordance with state laws
F839 is one of the federal requirements every Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing home must meet. CMS describes it as: Employ staff that are licensed, certified, or registered in accordance with state laws.
It sits in CMS's administration 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). 60.4% of F839 citations came from a complaint visit rather than a routine inspection.
By letter: C 6, D 99, E 53, F 40, J 2, L 2.
What inspectors wrote
Three recent F839 citations from different states, quoted from the inspectors' statements of deficiencies (CMS form 2567). Names are removed by CMS.
Inspectors wrote, July 23, 2026, scope and severity DBased on interviews and record review the facility failed to ensure professional staff were licensed, certified, or registered in accordance with applicable State laws for 1 (CNA A) of 3 CNA's reviewed for proficiency of nurse aides. The facility failed to ensure CNA A had an active CNA license before allowing her to perform CNA tasks, working a total of 83.88 hours between [DATE] and [DATE], with an expired CNA license. This deficient practice had the potential to affect all residents in the facility who CNA A worked with when CNA A failed to maintain a current nurse aide certification.
Avir at Hillsboro, Hillsboro, TX
Inspectors wrote, July 17, 2026, scope and severity FBased on interview and document review, the facility failed to ensure a licensed practical nurse (LPN) maintained her current credentials for 1 (LPN #1) of 8 licensed nursing staff reviewed for current credentials. This deficient practice had the potential to affect all residents who currently resided in the facility.
Resorts at Chester River Manor Corp, Chestertown, MD
Inspectors wrote, July 16, 2026, scope and severity DThis citation pertains to intake 3055356. Based on observation, interview and record review, the facility failed to ensure staff who identified themselves as a Social Worker had the required credentials, according to State Law, for two (R2 and R5) of two reviewed.
Cascade Senior Care Center, Jackson, MI
Most recent F839 citations at the harm or jeopardy level
Newest first, all 4 in the current files. Each home's page shows the citation in full context, with its correction status.
| Inspection | Home | Town | Letter | Visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 1, 2025 | Fayette Health and Rehabilitation Center | Baltimore, MD | J | Standard |
| February 17, 2025 | The Broadway Nursing and Rehabilitation Ctr | Lockport, LA | L | Complaint |
| February 20, 2024 | College Park Rehabilitation and Care Center | Weatherford, TX | J | Standard |
| March 21, 2023 | Cascade Senior Care Center | Jackson, MI | L | Standard |
Most recent F839 citations
F839 citations by state
Counts depend on how many homes a state has and how often its inspectors visit, so a larger number is not by itself a worse record.
By inspection year: 2019 7, 2021 3, 2022 9, 2023 23, 2024 68, 2025 61, 2026 31.
Common questions
- What is F839 in a nursing home inspection?
- F839 is the federal requirement to "employ staff that are licensed, certified, or registered in accordance with state laws". CMS files it under administration. A home cited under F839 did not meet that requirement at the inspection.
- How often is F839 cited?
- The CMS files as of September 1, 2026 list 202 F839 citations at 195 nursing homes, 49 of them in the 12 months to that date. 2.0% were rated as actual harm or immediate jeopardy.
- Is a F839 citation serious?
- It depends on the letter. Most F839 citations (95.0%) were rated as potential for more than minimal harm, D to F. 4 were immediate jeopardy, the most serious 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