F943: Give their staff education on dementia care, and what abuse, neglect, and exploitation are; and how to report abuse, neglect, and exploitation
F943 is one of the federal requirements every Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing home must meet. CMS describes it as: Give their staff education on dementia care, and what abuse, neglect, and exploitation are; and how to report abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
It sits in CMS's freedom from abuse, neglect, and exploitation 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). 31.8% of F943 citations came from a complaint visit rather than a routine inspection.
By letter: B 5, C 4, D 214, E 161, F 63.
What inspectors wrote
Three recent F943 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 EBased on facility policy review, review of personnel files, and staff interviews, it was determined the facility failed to ensure abuse training upon hire was completed for two of five employees reviewed (Employees 7 and 13).
Carlisle Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Carlisle, PA
Inspectors wrote, July 16, 2026, scope and severity DBased on employee file review, staff interviews, and facility policy review the facility failed to ensure 1 of 5 staff members completed the Dependent Adult Abuse training every 3 years. The facility reported a census of 59 residents.
Ivy at Davenport, Davenport, IA
Inspectors wrote, July 9, 2026, scope and severity FBased on interview and record review, the facility failed to ensure newly hired staff received orientation and training on abuse prohibition upon hire. This had the potential to affect all 39 residents residing in the facility.
Lincoln Knolls Health & Rehab LLC, Youngstown, OH
Most recent F943 citations
F943 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 10, 2020 3, 2021 15, 2022 33, 2023 90, 2024 138, 2025 103, 2026 55.
Common questions
- What is F943 in a nursing home inspection?
- F943 is the federal requirement to "give their staff education on dementia care, and what abuse, neglect, and exploitation are; and how to report abuse, neglect, and exploitation". CMS files it under freedom from abuse, neglect, and exploitation. A home cited under F943 did not meet that requirement at the inspection.
- How often is F943 cited?
- The CMS files as of September 1, 2026 list 447 F943 citations at 415 nursing homes, 81 of them in the 12 months to that date. 0.0% were rated as actual harm or immediate jeopardy.
- Is a F943 citation serious?
- It depends on the letter. Most F943 citations (98.0%) 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