Windows to the Outside: A Requirement for Nursing Home Bedrooms

In the News,Personal Injury - April 2, 2026 by Horwitz, Horwitz & Associates

Federal law requires residents’ rooms, as defined by Section 13-3.8.1 of the 1985 edition of the Life Safety Code, to have at least one window to the outside.  This requirement serves as a way to assist a resident’s orientation to day and night, weather, and a general awareness of space outside the facility.  The facility is required to provide a “safe, clean, comfortable and homelike environment” by deemphasizing the institutional character of the setting.  Windows are a key aspect to ensuring the facility has a homelike environment.  See Nursing Home Federal Regulation 483.70(d)(1)(vi), Interpretive Guidelines.

Because elderly often experience disorientation at night, windows help ease this confusion.  A study conducted by Dr. Anjali Joseph assessed the relationship between physical environmental factors and resident and staff outcomes in different types of long-term care settings.  See “Health Promotion By Design In Long-Term Care Settings,” Anjali Joseph, Ph. D. Center for Health Design, August 2006.
The study found that the design of the physical environment impacts resident and staff outcomes in long-term care settings and contributes to a better quality of life for those who live, work, and visit these facilities.  It studied three main areas: (1) resident quality of life, (b) resident safety), and (c) staff stress.  The studies show that unit layout, supportive features and finishes, reduced noise, and access to outdoor spaces, may be linked to improved sleep, better orientation and wayfinding, and reduced aggression.  Further, continuing research suggests that environment should not only support functional abilities, but also provide opportunities for residents to be physically active and health.
Giving a resident accessibility to the outdoors and even just seeing the outdoors from a bedroom window, has the capacity to enhance their quality of life.  Nursing homes neglect their residents when they fail to recognize the importance of these federal regulations.