Preferred Care at Old Bridge: Call Bell Violations - NJ
The care plan had been in place since November 2020. It noted the resident needed help with daily activities and specified one intervention above all others — keep the call bell within easy reach. When a state inspector arrived on October 23, 2025, responding to a complaint, that intervention still hadn't been reliably carried out.
The call bell system at the facility is not complicated. A nursing assistant who spoke with the inspector that afternoon explained how it works: when a resident presses the button, a light activates above their door, a sound goes off in the hallway, and the room and bed number appear on a monitor at the nurses' station. CNA #2 said that when she enters a room and the call bell is going off, she turns it off and finds out what the resident needs. If it's not her assigned resident, she goes and gets the right aide.
The licensed practical nurse who also spoke with the inspector described the same basic process. LPN/UM #2 said staff should ask what the resident needs, either handle it or get someone who can, and then return to tell the resident help is coming. She said call bells needed to be in reach at all times, meaning the resident could press it with their dominant hand or whatever side was easiest for them. "Everybody can answer a call bell," she told the inspector.
The facility's own written policy, last revised in January 2025, is specific. It requires that when staff make beds or tidy rooms, the call bell must be left in a standard place, attached to a partial side rail or the top of the bed. The nursing assistant leaving the room is responsible for making sure it's there, regardless of whether the resident can use it. A separate line in the same policy states the call bell must be within the resident's reach before anyone leaves the room.
What the policy says and what the care plan required are the same thing. The resident's record had flagged this need since 2020. The facility updated its call bell policy as recently as nine months before the inspection. And still, the inspector documented a violation.
The deficiency was cited at a level of minimal harm or potential for actual harm, affecting a few residents. That classification sits near the lower end of the federal harm scale. But for a resident who depends on staff assistance for daily activities, a call bell that can't be reached isn't a paperwork problem. It's the only way to ask for help.
The inspector's finding was straightforward: the intervention written into the resident's care plan, the one requiring the call bell to stay within reach, had not been consistently followed. No one disputed how the system was supposed to work. The staff interviewed described the correct process clearly and without hesitation. The policy said the right things. The care plan said the right things.
The resident, who needed help with basic daily functions, was left to hope someone would come.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Preferred Care At Old Bridge, LLC from 2025-10-23 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.
Additional Resources
Data source: Official federal inspection data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Editorial process: AI-synthesized regulatory data, reviewed for accuracy by our editorial team.
Professional review: All content reviewed by Christopher F. Nesbitt, Sr., NH EMT & BU-trained Paralegal.
Last verified: June 24, 2026 · Our methodology
PREFERRED CARE AT OLD BRIDGE, LLC in OLD BRIDGE, NJ was cited for violations during a health inspection on October 23, 2025.
The care plan had been in place since November 2020.
Health inspections identify deficiencies that facilities must correct. Violations range from minor documentation issues to serious safety concerns. Review the full report below for specific details and facility response.