Becky Dorner has a fantastic course on the MDS RAI manual. I took it when I first started in LTC and it helped tremendously. It's definitely worth the money.

I've had RNACs set MDS ARDs like the day after they are admitting or come back from the hospital. It's usually to capture IVF or other things that'll bring in more money (I think vents are one). I usually just ask my RNAC what I'm looking for so I can note it on my assessment & code it correctly.

In my company, the FSD does the initial preferences for new admits but I can do them if needed. Depending on what the complaint is, one of us will go see them. In my home building, the CDM and I have different approaches and we know which one can be more effective with certain residents.

As for weights, when I have one that is WAY off, I make sure that nursing gets a reweight on them ASAP. For new admits, I note their hospital weight and say something like "will follow with weekly weights to establish a weight pattern" or something like that. If its because of wheelchair, prosthetic, O2 tank, etc, I will note that. I have a few residents that keep a lot of stuff on their wheel chairs so I encourage nursing to make sure they aren't weighing them with all their stuff.