F924: Put firmly secured handrails on each side of hallways
F924 is one of the federal requirements every Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing home must meet. CMS describes it as: Put firmly secured handrails on each side of hallways.
It sits in CMS's environmental 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). 15.7% of F924 citations came from a complaint visit rather than a routine inspection.
By letter: D 84, E 90, F 24.
What inspectors wrote
Three recent F924 citations from different states, quoted from the inspectors' statements of deficiencies (CMS form 2567). Names are removed by CMS.
Inspectors wrote, July 15, 2026, scope and severity FLicensure Reference Number 175 NAC 12-007.03(K). Based on observations and interviews, the facility failed to affix handrails securely to the walls in resident corridors, this had the potential to affect all residents residing in the facility. The facility census was 52.
Good Samaritan Society - Hastings Village, Hastings, NE
Inspectors wrote, July 6, 2026, scope and severity DBased on observations, staff interviews, and surveyor record review it was determined that the facility failed to install a handrail in the hall on the Ground-TCU Nursing Unit. This finding was found to be evident in review of the physical environment during the annual recertification survey.
Autumn Lake Healthcare at Overlea, Baltimore, MD
Inspectors wrote, June 17, 2026, scope and severity EBased on observation and interview, the facility failed to ensure handrails on the second floor were securely attached to the wall. This had the potential to affect all residents, staff, and visitors who had access to the handrails.
Villas at Bryn Mawr LLC, Minneapolis, MN
Most recent F924 citations
F924 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: 2018 1, 2019 5, 2020 2, 2021 13, 2022 15, 2023 41, 2024 52, 2025 41, 2026 28.
Common questions
- What is F924 in a nursing home inspection?
- F924 is the federal requirement to "put firmly secured handrails on each side of hallways". CMS files it under environmental. A home cited under F924 did not meet that requirement at the inspection.
- How often is F924 cited?
- The CMS files as of September 1, 2026 list 198 F924 citations at 193 nursing homes, 44 of them in the 12 months to that date. 0.0% were rated as actual harm or immediate jeopardy.
- Is a F924 citation serious?
- It depends on the letter. Most F924 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