The State Operations Manual should definitely be on your shelf, but never stay there for long.
Survey experts advise facilities to keep copies of the updated manual on every nursing unit so staff can continually refresh their memories about what the regulations require. That knowledge can come in very handy when surveyors are claiming that the facility has a deficient practice.
You can download a copy of the SOM on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Web site at http://cms.hhs.gov/manuals/cmstoc.asp. Check out the 190 deficiency tags in the manual's Appendix P at http://cms.hhs.gov/manuals/pub07pdf/AP-P-PP.pdf.