She also gave authorities a false name, for there was a warrant out for her arrest after she failed to appear in court two weeks ago on a charge of driving with a suspended license. She was also on probation after pleading guilty to a Jan. 6 marijuana possession charge.

Deputies placed Peay under arrest and charged her with two counts of neglect of a disabled person. They also arrested her for the outstanding warrants and for giving a false name to a law enforcement officers. She is being held in Manatee County jail on $12,120 bond.

The nursing home administrator said Peay had worked for the company for several years, but that she was fired over the incident. Residents of North West Care Center are routinely taken on field trips to sporting events or to the theater; however, employees must follow strict guidelines, such as never leaving a resident alone. As a safety measure, North West Care Center is conducting training sessions for all staff.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Caregiver leaves patients alone at ball game

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I-1029 requires all new caregivers beginning in 2010 to be certified by the state, undergo an FBI background check and get at least 75 hours of training. The initiative is sponsored by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

PAS-Port for Change, an eight-member statewide steering committee, argues that the initiative fails to address the core issues of abuse and neglect against the elderly and disabled. While it supports the training of caregivers, the organization believes the type of training and the method of delivering that training should be in the hands of the clients.

Debb Snyder, a member of the PAS-Port for Change steering committee who also is disabled, has tried but failed to get SEIU to circulate a questionnaire to those who use caregivers on the quality of care they receive. The questionnaire asks whether the recipient has been verbally or physically abused by a caregiver, whether a caregiver has failed to show up for work or arrived under the influence of drugs or alcohol, whether a caregiver has asked them for food or money or threatened them with abandonment, according to the story.

Snyder says she would like to use those questionnaires during interviews with the accused caregivers as a means of training.

The Washington Attorney General’s office forwards complaints of abuse and neglect to Adult Protective Services, which in turn investigates each case to determine if criminal charges are warranted. The state receives about 13,000 complaints of abuse and neglect each year from adults living in their own homes.

“We’re not against the workers,” Snyder says, “but they need to be trained by us.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Advocacy group wants more control over caregiver training

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

There is truly a special place … well you know where … for people who would do something like this. According to the report, which was carried by local CBS affiliate WCCO, the nursing assistants allegedly spit in residents’ mouths, poked their breasts and touched their genitals, and teased them.

Nursing home abuse has to be one of the most incomprehensible acts I encounter in my work with personal injury cases. I just don’t understand how people who are supposed to offer care and comfort, security and peace, could be so cruel. Particularly in the case of Alzheimer’s or dementia patients, who so often are bewildered and afraid, adrift in unclear memories and unsure of what is happening around them to begin with. To abuse these defenseless people – it’s just inexcusable.

Unfortunately, there is still no system for compiling official national statistics about nursing home abuse and neglect. According to the National Center on Elder Abuse, as a result no one knows precisely how many older Americans are being abused, neglected or exploited.

The major types of elder abuse are physical abuse, which includes inappropriate use of drugs and physical restraints; sexual abuse; emotional or psychological abuse, which, in addition to verbal attacks or intimidation includes enforced social isolation and treating an older person like an infant; neglect; abandonment; and financial or material exploitation.

It is most often left up to the individual – family members of loved ones – to monitor the care provided by their chosen nursing home facility. Too often, distance prevents regular visits, and families are left to worry, and hope for the best.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › a special place …

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

According to the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA), no one knows precisely how many older Americans are being abused, neglected, or exploited. This is because there are no official national statistics.

Adding to the problem, there are no federal standards that govern residential care facilities, which are known by more than 30 different names across the country, perhaps most commonly as assisted living facilities.

In her testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance in June 2002, Catherine Hawes, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management School or Rural Public Health at Texas A&M University system Health Science Center, pointed out that there has never been a systematic study of the prevalence of abuse in nursing homes. She said much of what we know is based on individual stories or focus group interviews with residents and families.

But what we do know is frightening.

• According to the best available estimates, between 1 and 2 million Americans age 65 or older have been injured, exploited or otherwise mistreated by someone on whom they depended for care or protection.
  Only 1 in 14 incidents of elder abuse in domestic settings come to the attention of authorities.
  For every one case of elder abuse, neglect, exploitation, or self-neglect reported to authorities, about five more go unreported.

The major types of elder abuse are physical abuse, which includes inappropriate use of drugs and physical restraints; sexual abuse; emotional or psychological abuse, which, in addition to verbal attacks or intimidation includes enforced social isolation and treating an older person like an infant; neglect; abandonment; and financial or material exploitation.

In 2003, state Long Term Care Ombudsman programs nationally investigated 20,673 complaints of abuse, gross neglect, and exploitation on behalf of nursing home and board and care residents. Physical abuse was the most common type reported.

Another study released in 2001 reported that based on information collected between January 1999 and January 2000 by a nursing home complaint database, 10 percent of nursing homes in the U.S. were cited for abuse violations that caused actual harm to residents or placed them in immediate jeopardy of death or serious injury.

If you or a loved one suffered a serious injury due to nursing home abuse or neglect, you have specific legal rights. For a free legal consultation, please contact us today

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › 2 million elderly victims

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.