Antipsychotic use in skilled nursing is under sharper scrutiny than ever. New HHS-OIG reports have called out facilities for using these medications for staff convenience rather than clinical need, and CMS's January 2026 hybrid Long-Stay Antipsychotic Quality Measure is already pushing facility rates upward and catching many providers off guard. This practical, nursing-focused session moves past "med management" to show you how to build a facility system that prevents unnecessary psychotropics while protecting resident rights and safety. You'll leave with survey-ready tools you can put to work Monday morning: a 5-point decision filter for every start and renewal, an ABC documentation template that stands up to survey, a PRN 14-day hard-stop workflow, a GDR due-list process, and a one-page QAPI snapshot for monthly IDT review. Whether you're a DON, nurse manager, or administrator, you'll walk away with a clear, auditable roadmap to align resident outcomes with compliance—and reduce your F605 and Five-Star risk.

Nurse Learner Outcome:

Learner Objectives: 

1. Identify the core CMS requirements for antipsychotic use, gradual dose reduction (GDR), and PRN limits in skilled nursing facilities.  
2. Differentiate appropriate from inappropriate indications for antipsychotic use in the long-term care population.  
3. Apply a 5-point nursing decision filter to determine whether initiating or continuing an antipsychotic is clinically justified.  
4. Compose survey-ready behavioral documentation using an ABC format (trigger → behavior → non-pharmacologic response → outcome).  
5. Evaluate facility IDT and QAPI workflows used to monitor antipsychotic use, oversee PRN/GDR compliance, and reduce citation risk.