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A new rule issued in September by the Bush Administration has made a once routine process of obtaining information from nursing homes to back up claims of abuse and neglect almost impossible. That juggernaut has people who are suing nursing homes wrangling between state and federal officials, according to the Washington Post.
Had it not been for video surveillance in nursing homes throughout New York state, many nursing home residents who were the victims of neglect and abuse at the hands of their caregivers would still be suffering. The use of hidden video surveillance has become so effective in prosecuting the offenders there that over the past few months New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has increased the number of nursing homes that have cameras.
Shirley Gerhardt admitted her 76-year-old husband Richard into Laurel Canyon nursing home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in December of 2005. He has suffered a broken hip and just couldn’t get around well. On Christmas day, Gerhardt was placed on a bedpan, and forgotten by staff. He sat there, on the bedpan, for 24 hours as the pan began to imbed into his skin. He suffered an open wound that became infected and lead to his death just five days later, according to Wired PR News.
There was plenty of money for Margaret Palko’s long-term care – nearly $375,000 in her bank account. The 88-year-old woman relied on Elizabeth DeLeon to provide her care, giving her power of attorney over her finances in 2005. Six months later, Palko’s Alzheimer’s Disease had progressed to the point that she was admitted to Schuylkill Center Nursing Home in the Norwegian Township, according to the Morning Call.
Wes Bledsoe, founder of the victim’s advocacy group A Perfect Cause, cautioned Norman, Oklahoma, residents to heed the warning signs of neglect in patients in the state’s nursing homes, citing a study by the national coalition Advancing Excellence in America’s Nursing Homes. The study found that nursing home residents in Oklahoma had more pressure sores compared to the national average, according to NewsOK.
A report of maltreatment against Presbyterian Homes nursing home in Arden Hills, Minnesota, is being investigated following an incident where a resident suffered a neck injury and subsequently died, according to Fox Twin Cities.
Sexual abuse. It is one of the most unimaginable crimes against those who are dependent on others, but yet the reports keep coming.
This week in Framingham, Massachusetts, the Boston Herald reported that a former nursing home aide was charged with sexually molesting a 62-year-old woman at Sudbury Pines Extended Care who had recently suffered a stroke which had greatly limited her ability to speak.
The family of Sarah Wentworth can’t imagine how the 89-year-old woman could have wandered outside the Itasca, Illinois nursing home where she lived for more than two years. Wentworth was so frail that she needed assistance just to get out of bed or change her clothes. And since she suffered from dementia, which can make those who suffer from the disease prone to wander, she also wore an ankle bracelet that sounded an alarm if she crossed through the nursing home’s doors to the outside.
Three of the five nursing home employees accused of repeatedly abusing a 94-year-old woman will stand trial, another is awaiting a preliminary hearing, and charges were dropped against the fifth employee arrested in the crime, according to MSNBC.
A watchdog group that advocates for the developmentally disabled is pressuring Nebraska state leaders to look into the care at the troubled state-run Beatrice State Developmental Center, according to the Fremont Tribune.
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