NPWT is a topical negative pressure, sub-atomospheric pressure dressing or vacuum sealing technique generally indicated for the management of wounds, burns, ulcers, flaps and graphs. NPWT apply negative pressure to the wound in order to remove fluids, including wound exudates, irrigation fluids and infectious materials. The system is thought to benefit wounds healing by removing wound fluid and dessicated tissue, decreasing the level of bacteria in the wound, improving blood flow in the wound and surrounding tissue, promote granulation tissue, and pulling the wound edges together and stimulating cell growth.

However, the FDA has received reports of six deaths and 77 injuries associated with NPWT systems over the past two years. Bleeding was the most serious complication, occurring in all six deaths and in 17 of the injuries. These complications can occur in hospitals, long-term care facilities, and at home.

Of the 83 reports to the FDA, 27 reports indicated worsening infection from original open infected wounds or from pieces of dressing that remained in the wound, and 32 reports noted injury from foam dressing pieces and foam sticking to tissues or clinging to the wound. Most of these patients required surgery, additional hospitalization, and antibiotics.

The agency is advising health care professionals to select patients for NPWT carefully, after reviewing the most recent device labeling and instructions. Risk factors and characteristics that should be considered before NPWT use include patients at high risk for bleeding and hemorrhage; patients on anticoagulants or platelet aggregation inhibitors; patients with infected blood vessels, infected wounds, exposed organs, or sharp edges in the wound (such as bone fragments); and patients with spinal cord injuries. A full list of risk factors and contraindications can be found on the FDA’s letter to healthcare practitioners.

Patients should be monitored frequently in an appropriate setting by a trained practitioner, and should be vigilant for potentially life-threatening complications, such as bleeding, and be prepared to take prompt action if they occur. Patients who use NPWT at home should receive adequate training from their health care provider on how to use the NPWT device; understand the possible complications that may be associated with using the NPWT device; get NPWT patient instructions their doctor, NPWT distributor, or the manufacturer’s Web site; and talk to their doctors if they do not feel capable of managing the NPWT device at home.

Consumers may report adverse reactions related to negative pressure wound therapy to FDA’s MedWatch Adverse Reporting Program.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › FDA warns of death, complications from type of wound therapy

June 15, 2009 has been designated as the 4th annual World Elder Abuse Awareness Day and will be celebrated by several hundred organizations and governmental bodies at international, national, regional, local, community and neighborhood levels in every continent in the world.

In Montgomery, Alabama, Jere L. Beasley, founding shareholder of Beasley Allen Law Firm, will speak at 10:30 a.m. at an Elder Abuse Rally at the Alabama State Capital. Beasley Allen Law Firm is one of the country’s leading firms involved in civil litigation on behalf of claimants, having represented hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom sought justice in cases of elder abuse.

For more information on World Elder Abuse Awareness Day or how to organize an event in your community, visit INPEA’s Web site and refer to the Community World Day Tool Kit.

Sources:
National Center on Elder Abuse
International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › June 15 is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day

The nursing home was cited for failing to have a comprehensive care plan for treating the patient’s broken leg, which resulted in an “infestation of maggots,” according to the inspection report. The man’s injury should have been treated every three days but the nursing home was only able to document weekly treatments.

In April 2008, just four months before the above-mentioned incident report, inspectors cited the home for a series of isolated events that it said put the health or safety of residents in immediate jeopardy. The nursing home was put on a watch list and given just one star out of five in the government’s five-star rating system to help consumers gauge the quality of care provided by nursing homes. The citations apparently did little to improve quality of care at the home.

Azalea Court is appealing, arguing that the home is cooperating fully with regulatory agencies. “Quality care is our highest priority,” reads a statement issued by the nursing home. “Government ratings are a valuable tool, but they’re no substitute for visiting a facility and meeting the staff.”

The $16,000 fine against Azalea Court is the largest fine waged against any health care provider or facility in Palm Beach County this year.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Maggots found crawling out of nursing home resident’s leg cast

Iowa Governor Chet Culver

Under the new law, nursing homes would no longer be fined for not having competent, licensed administrators or caregivers in their facilities; not having a qualified nurse on duty, or for understaffing at the facility, one of the leading contributors to resident neglect.

The few fines that can be imposed can be reduced by 35 percent if the nursing home agrees not to formally appeal the state’s findings. Financial penalties for intentionally killing or injuring residents will be doubled, though state regulators say such violations are unlikely.

A spokesman for the governor’s office said the bill was signed to “promote better care by encouraging nursing homes to develop pro-active quality assurance programs and allowing facilities to identify and correct problems right away.”

John Tapscott, an advocate for Iowa seniors said the new law “only proves that our legislative leaders and governor are willing to sell out the most vulnerable of our citizens – the sick and elderly residing in nursing homes – for a few thousand campaign dollars.” The bill was opposed by the Iowa Department of Elder Affairs and the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals.

The legislation was supported by the Iowa Healthcare Association, which last year made political contributions totaling nearly $90,000.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing homes that jeopardize safety no longer face fines in Iowa

The Inspector General’s Office of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services didn’t see the humor in the incidents and has requested Kentucky facilities to prevent the same such use of cell phones among staff.

Some residents were photographed only partially dressed or in compromising situations, such as walking into the bathroom. Others’ voices were recorded as they screamed or made other comments.

In once incident, a woman with Alzheimer’s disease was recorded saying, “I gotta do-do,” to indicate she needed to use the bathroom. The employee who recorded her reportedly played it back to at least 15 people standing at the nurse’s station. At least one staff member said the use of cell phones during the weekend night shift was “out of control.”

Reports of inappropriate cell phone use have sprung up in recent months. Last March, an Oklahoma nursing home employee was arrested after using his phone to videotape his abuse of residents. Last month in Tennessee, two nursing home workers were fired for using their cell phones inappropriately in the home.

A representative with Bluegrass said that all employees involved in the incident at the Kentucky home have been fired and that all 10,000 employees with Signature Healthcare, the company that owns Bluegrass, have been re-educated on the company’s cell phone policy. Those who use cell phones in a resident area are subject to immediate termination.

Source: Kentucky.com

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Kentucky investigators urge nursing homes to ban cell phones

Bledsoe, founder of the watchdog group A Perfect Cause, returned to Albert Lea, Minnesota, to rally support for his efforts. Bledsoe has been to Albert Lea numerous times in response to news reports about the “abuse-for-thrills” case at Good Samaritan Society nursing home where two nursing aides have been charged with a linty of crimes including disorderly conduct, assault and criminal sexual abuse.

According to prosecutors, Brianna Broitzman and Ashton Larson held down residents, put their fingers in residents’ mouths and noses to quiet their cries and screams for help, hit and rubbed their breasts and genitals, and sexually “humped” some residents. They told coworkers that they partook in the crimes for “work fun or to get a good laugh.”

Bledsoe explained the problem with the five-star reporting system by poring through Minnesota Department of Health reports, including one that was released last August in which the “abuse-for-thrills” case was reported by Good Samaritan. He said since nursing homes self report incidents of abuse and neglect and implement a plan of correction before the state Department of Health arrived, Good Samaritan received no deficiencies for the abuse.

Since the federal database tracks deficiencies at homes and not substantiated abuse cases, people who refer to the federal database have no way of seeing an accurate picture of the care a nursing home provides. Bledsoe is fighting to get substantiated abuse cases added to the federal database, and urged others to contact their state legislators, U.S. congressmen and senators.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Advocate wants federal nursing home database to include abuse cases

Nursing homes

Bedsores, also known as pressure ulcers, are often caused by unrelieved pressure to any part of the body. Though easily prevented by turning a patient every two hours, if left untreated, bedsores can be fatal.

Researchers pulled from two data sources – the national repository of the Minimum Data Set, a federally mandated report of health status, function and demographics on all nursing home residents; and the Oscar database system, which collects information on patients and nursing homes through the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services. The research included nursing home residents who were 65 years old and older and living in nursing homes in California, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona or Colorado.

The study was led by Michael Gerardo, adjunct assistant professor of community health at Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Co-authors included Joan Teno, M.D., professor of community health and medicine and end-of-life care expert, and Vincent Mor, chairman of the Department of Community Health. Mor also served as lead author for a 2007 study that suggested blacks were more likely to live in poor-quality nursing homes than whites.

The researchers concluded that more research was needed to determine the implications of their findings.

Source: Brown University

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Study: Hispanic nursing homes provide lower quality of care

The lawsuit claims that Skilled Healthcare Group issued a rule that Latinos must speak English only, even with other Spanish-speaking residents at the home, while on nursing home grounds, and during breaks. However, that rule was not enforced with individuals from other ethnic groups, such as Tagalog. The Latino workers also claimed they suffered from other forms of harassment from nursing home management.

The nursing home group disputed the allegations, saying it settled the lawsuit to avoid an expensive and time-consuming lawsuit.

One Latino nursing aide said a Spanish-speaking resident told her in Spanish that she needed to use the bathroom. When the aide responded in Spanish she was told by a supervisor that she would be disciplined and possibly fired if she continued to speak Spanish while at work.

The conscent decree requires Skilled Healthcare Group to divide $180,000 among 53 workers as well as offer them English classes. Upon completion of the classes, each worker will receive an additional $2,500. The nursing home group also will provide antidiscrimination training. The group was also instructed to hire a monitor to ensure the home complies with federal law.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home group must pay Latino workers in discrimination lawsuit

The meeting was his second since early last month, when he held a town hall meeting with an audience of more than 200 focusing on recent allegations of sexual abuse of residents at Castle Manor by a nursing home aide at the home. According to family members, it took days for the nursing home to file the sexual abuse claims with the Department of Health, and the accused abuser continued to work at the home for weeks after the initial complaint was made.

Concerned family members of one of the victims contacted Bledsoe, founder of the victims watchdog group A Perfect Cause, who has received much publicity for his efforts to fight elder care in nursing homes. He traveled to Hot Springs to conduct a town hall meeting last month and returned last week after receiving dozens of calls from family members of victims wanting advice on how to best seek justice.

One audience member last week asked Bledsoe if he planned to contact Castle Manor administration, which Bledsoe was quoted in the Rapid City Journal as replying, “I don’t make a practice to meet with administrators. By the time I am called, the time for talking is past, and it is time to take action.”

Bledsoe said he had talked with the Fall River County State’s Attorney about the case, but did not disclose the details of that conversation. But he urged those in the audience to join his fight. “Call your state and national representatives and senators,” Bledsoe was quoted in the newspaper. “We can address many things through advocacy, but I need more help.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Eldercare advocate rallies family members to fight for better care

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of family members of four people who died in the homes from dehydration, malnutrition and blood poisoning caused by neglected bed sores. The suit is also filed on behalf of a man who lost a testicle after being scalded during an act of abuse at the home. The suit cites “grossly substandard care, life-threatening care,” and negligence.

The nursing home group is also being sued for deceptive trade practices for promoting its nursing homes as providing quality care when, in fact, the homes have among the worst records in the state, according to the report.

The Health Care Availability Act requires all nursing homes be insured for $3 million each year with a cap of $500,000 per incident. In 2004, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment adopted a policy that allowed nursing homes to be self-insured provided they submit an affidavit stating that it has set aside $1 million for insurance claims.

However, investigators have found the affidavits are false and that the homes have no money set aside for any insurance claims. Attorneys for the families claim that the state did nothing to verify the affidavits were valid and that the nursing homes had set aside the money even though state law requires approval of self-insurance plans.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home chain accused of substandard, life-threatening care

Caregivers of individuals who suffer from dementia and live at home should take precautionary measures to ensure their family member’s safety. This includes installing deadbolt or slide-bolt locks on exterior doors and limited access to potentially dangerous areas of the home. (Never lock a person with dementia in a home without supervision.)

Many nursing homes also take steps to keep patients suffering from cognitive disorders from wandering out of the home, such as keeping units locked and making sure residents prone to wander wear bracelets that trigger an alarm if they wander outside a safe area.

Even with such measures in place, some patients still manage to escape. Earlier this week the Chicago Tribune reported that an 81-year-old Illinois man who suffered from dementia was found dead on the side of a road after wandering out of his nursing home. He had slipped out a window.

And late last month we told you about an Ohio woman with dementia whose body was found 100 feet from the nursing home where she had wandered from earlier that evening.

For information on how to keep your family member safe, visit the Alzheimer’s Association at www.alz.org.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Wandering injuries, deaths a big concern for those with dementia

Iowa

Medical Director Dr. Melissa Bruhl said she recommended the change to the home’s administrator Dan Steen because she was having a difficult time finding relief for the 24-hour coverage. As a result, the arrangement increased Bruhl’s salary from $244,000 per year to about $319,000.

The nursing home’s human resources director said the change didn’t save the facility money or have an affect on the quality of care provided to its 720 residents. But some are questioning how Bruhl was able to make a decision that benefited her to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars.

Bruhl says she is working with the human resources director to determine whether four staff medical doctors are needed on call, or if a better system would be that which is implemented by many nursing homes – to transport patients by ambulance to the hospital if medical care is required.

State lawmakers are questioning whether the governor’s office or the veterans commission played a role in the decision. Following a meeting with lawmakers, Bruhl said, “I guess I have to assume the decisions were made pretty much in-house.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Lawmakers question veterans home officials about schedules, salaries

California nursing homes

Ombudsmen provide a valuable service to the elderly. Not only do they serve as advocates to nursing home residents, they also investigate and resolve complaints and make unannounced visits to nursing homes to ensure residents’ needs are being met. An estimated 40 percent of nursing home residents have no family or friends to visit with or advocate for them.

A spokesperson with Ombudsman Services of Northern California says mandatory reporting of incidents has dropped though the number of residents in the homes has increased – a formula which doesn’t make sense. The group is concerned that the 1,600 northern California nursing homes and assisted living facilities regularly serviced by the program will begin to see a rise in senior abuse.

Instead of visiting assisted living facilities once a month and nursing homes weekly, since the budget cuts ombudsmen visits have dropped to once a year for assisted living facilities and monthly for nursing homes.

According to the report, Assemblyman Dave Jones, (D) Sacramento, has co-authored legislation to restore ombudsman funding. That bill would direct money to the ombudsman programs from fines levied against care home operators who break the law.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › CA long-term care facilities suffer from cuts to ombudsman program

Mentally ill people ages 22 to 64 make up 9 percent of the nation’s 1.4 million nursing home residents, a number that has climbed 6 percent since 2002. That increase is attributed to the closing of state mental institutions and a shortage of hospital psychiatric beds.

Allowing mentally ill patients, many with a history of aggression toward others, to live in nursing homes with the elderly has had tragic results. In 2003, a 23-year-old woman was accused of starting a fire in the nursing home where she lived, which killed 16 fellow residents. The woman was found incompetent to stand trial and was committed to a mental institution.

Earlier this year, a 21-year-old nursing home resident diagnosed with bipolar disorder with aggression was charged with raping a 69-year-old resident. Seventy-seven-year-old nursing home resident Ivory Jackson died a brutal death when his mentally ill roommate – 30 years his junior – bashed his face in with a clock radio.

“Sadly, we’re seeing the tragic results of the failure of federal and state governments to provide appropriate treatment and housing for those with mental illnesses and to provide a safe environment for the frail elderly,” said Janet Wells, director of public policy for the National Citizens’ Coalition for Nursing Home Reform, to the Associated Press.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Mentally ill threaten safety of nursing home patients

“Improving the quality of care in nursing homes is a constant challenge. More transparency, better enforcement and improved staff training are needed, and this legislation works to make changes in those areas and improve the quality of life of nursing home residents and to empower the family members and loved ones of those residents,” Grassley said.

Grassley and Kohl also released a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report entitled “Medicare and Medicaid Participating Facilities: CMS Needs to Reexamine Its Approach for Oversight of Health Care Facilities.” The report suggests that the survey and certification system is significantly under-funded relative to the scope of its oversight responsibilities, which have greatly expanded in recent years.

The report found that because of resource constraints, some facilities have been receiving inspections once every ten years rather than yearly. The Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act seeks to strengthen the federal government’s survey and certification system.

Grassley and Kohl have worked together previously to improve nursing home quality by heading up the government’s new five-star nursing home rating system and releasing the Special Focus Facility program participant list, which names the 135 worst nursing homes in the country.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Grassley, Kohl reintroduce legislation to improve care at nursing homes

The bipartisan Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act of 2009 “prevents nursing homes from deliberately hiding clauses within the fine print of contracts that force seniors to surrender their right to trial by jury and enter an unfair and one-sided mandatory binding arbitration process,” according to the American Association for Justice.

This is good news for the thousands of nursing home residents and their families, many of whom have already signed these one-sided agreements that leave them defenseless, like the family of Dean Cole.

In January, we told you about Cole, whose family had filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the nursing home where Cole lived for just 22 days. During his short stay at Golden Living Center Greeley, Cole, who suffered from dementia and required assistance, stopped eating or taking medication and dropped an alarming 20 pounds. Even after his wife questioned nursing home staff about his weight loss, they told her Cole was fine. He was later admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with severe dehydration, renal failure, pneumonia and colitis. He died 10 days later.

Unfortunately, Cole’s family was made to sign a one-sided mandatory binding arbitration clause, which denied them the right to trail by jury. The case is still pending.

“The Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act will make sure negligent nursing home corporations can be held accountable by our most vulnerable citizens,” said American Association for Justice President Les Weisbrod. “This bill will prevent nursing home corporations from unfairly preying on seniors and stripping away their legal rights. Arbitration should only be voluntarily, not hidden away in the fine print of contracts during our seniors’ greatest time of need.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Bill protects nursing home residents from signing arbitration clauses

State Sen. Dan Kotowski

Sen. Kotowski says the basis of the bill is to ensure that problems at nursing homes get fixed. The Illinois Department of Public Health would be charged with overseeing the system and deciding if homes were using the refunded fines to remedy problems. If passed, Illinois would become the only state to refund nursing home fines.

“We really want to use the enforcement system to fix the problem,” said Terry Sullivan, a representative with the nursing home advocacy group Health Care Council of Illinois. “Why take funding away from the facility just when they need it?”

Wendy Meltzer, director of the Illinois Citizens for Better Care said the idea of refunding moneys paid by nursing homes that have been cited for abuse or neglect in “the rape or death of a resident is ‘morally repugnant,’” according to the news report.

The bill will also siphon funds from a special state fund that currently pays for Public Health employees to monitor troubled nursing homes and who take temporary control over troubled facilities.

Facing mounting opposition, Sen. Kotowski says he is willing to modify the legislation to please both sides for the greater good of those living in nursing homes.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Illinois nursing home advocates fight proposed bill to refund fines

DuPage County, Illinois

The freezing death of Sarah Wentworth has sent chills through the Itasca, Illinois, community where she lived – and subsequently died – at a nursing home. Wentworth suffered from dementia, which leaves its victims prone to wandering. She wore a band that would signal an alarm on the door if she wandered through it. Unfortunately, the nurses aide on duty the night Wentworth died was too caught up on a television show to pay attention to the alarm. Wentworth was left outdoors for five hours before she was found. By then it was too late and nursing home staff are being blamed for trying to cover up their negligence.

A state attorney wants to ensure more needless deaths like Wentworth’s don’t happen in nursing homes. He is urging the Illinois Department on Aging to establish an Elder Abuse Fatality Review Team to investigate claims of violence against elderly residents age 60 and older, including accessing previously restricted information such as nursing home records. The team would be made up of state attorneys, the sheriff, the county coroner, nursing home associations and senior citizen agencies.

A similar death review team was established last summer to review fatalities among senior citizens in domestic living situations. That team can investigate home care cases and retirement homes, but cannot investigate nursing home claims.

State approval for the Elder Abuse Fatality Review Team should come within the next few months. Team membership would be solicited shortly thereafter.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › State attorney hopes to form nursing home death review team

The cost to refund the program would come from penalty accounts, or accounts paid into by nursing homes who have been fined for not complying with federal and state laws.

Feuer also introduced a bill that requires nursing homes to prominently post quality care ratings so that individuals seeking long term care for family members can make educated decisions on the care options available to them. The ratings are based on a federal five-star program that rates nursing homes based on health inspection results, staffing levels and quality measures.

A third bill introduced by Feuer seeks to establish the Reverse Mortgage Elder Protection Act of 2009, offering new rights for senior citizens considering reserve mortgages. Reverse mortgages are a special type of loan that gives homeowners access to their home’s equity in cash payments to supplement income. While reverse mortgages can be beneficial, they may not always be in the best interest for seniors. The bill establishes new guidelines between consumers and reverse mortgage salespeople in an effort to protect seniors from being taken advantage of.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › California lawmaker proposes bills to protect vulnerable seniors

Apparently the new rule slid under most radars, but the results have left those pursing lawsuits fighting a more difficult battle than before to prove their cases against nursing homes. The rule designates state inspectors and Medicare and Medicaid contractors as federal employees, which helps prevent them from getting involved in private litigation without approval from the head of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Litigants now must jump through more hoops – like obtaining court orders – to get information that was once much easier to obtain, such as inspection reports. Those inspection reports can often reveal signs of abuse or neglect that the average person may not be aware of.

Proponents of the ruling say that it was necessary in order to hire new contractors to carry out activities like federal payments to providers, perform audits and oversee certification and surveys of nursing homes.

A representative from the American Health Care Association says the organization also is having difficulty getting details on how state inspectors determine penalties and citations. But, it seems, it’s the victims of potential abuse and neglect who will suffer the most.

According to a representative with the National Senior Citizens Law Center in Los Angeles, “This change hurts nursing-home residents and their families by allowing bad practices to be kept in secret by nursing homes and inspectors. … Government inspectors have the right to go into nursing homes and investigate, and they learn things that residents and families otherwise could never find out.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › New rule makes obtaining nursing home information more difficult

Now Maryland may be following suit. MSNBC reports that a bill is making its way through the house that would require nursing homes in Maryland to let people install cameras into patients rooms. The cameras would have to be purchased by the patients or their families and would not be allowed in bathrooms, according to the report.

According to the bill, the cameras could not be hidden, and a sign would hang on the door announcing that the room as being monitored. But even if staff is aware that a patient’s room is being monitored, it may serve as a deterrent against potential abuse and neglect.

The cameras would also give family members peace of mind, especially for those family members of patients who have lost the ability to speak, says Tyonja Bathgate, whose husband lives in a Maryland nursing home.

“He can no longer talk, so if something happens during the day, he can’t tell me any longer. If he wants a drink, he can’t call out,” she told MSNBC.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Maryland may allow video surveillance of nursing home rooms

Pressure sores, also known as bedsores or pressure ulcers, are areas of damaged skin and tissue that develop when sustained pressure – usually from a bed or wheelchair – cuts off circulation to parts of the body. The sores are most often found on the skin on the buttocks, hips and heels. Lack of adequate blood flow can cause tissue in the area to die. If left untreated, pressure sores can lead to serious or life threatening infections of the skin, muscle or bone.

Bledsoe urged a group of concerned citizens at a town hall meeting last week that vigilance and frequent visits can help prevent neglect.

Bledsoe’s advocacy group has continued to look out for the rights of nursing home residents. The group has lobbied for a stand-alone, long-term care facility in Oklahoma for sex offenders so they would not have to be admitted into other facilities. The group also has fought to have all allegations of abuse be reported to police for investigation, rather than just to state agencies that don’t always follow through with a formal investigation. The group also has helped garner attention for cases of abuse and neglect in nursing homes, most recently the “abuse-for-thrills” case at Good Samaritan Society nursing home in Albert Lea, Minnesota.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home advocate says to heed warning signs of neglect, abuse

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.

Despite her condition, investigators were able to interview the woman. She was able to answer yes and no questions and point to various parts of her body. From that, investigators ascertained that nursing aide Kofi Agana reportedly walked into the room of the victim while she was awake and her roommate asleep, and closed the door nearly all the way. He then rubbed the woman’s breasts and pinned her arms down as he touched her genital area. Agana was accused of assaulting the nursing home resident. He pled not guilty and is being held on $500 bond. He also was fired from the facility where he had worked since August.

In the same week just states away, 2 News TV reported that a Nampa, Idaho, man was arrested for sexually assaulting a mentally disabled resident of an assisted living facility where he worked as a case worker.

The accused, Thomas Hamlin, was arrested and charged with sexual abuse or exploitation of a vulnerable adult. The victim is reportedly in her 50s. The name of the assisted living facility where the incident occurred is not known, though reports say the incident occurred within the past few months.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Sexual abuse reported at nursing homes, assisted living facilities

The NDP reports were created by a union representing health-care workers. Those producing the report recorded each time one of the five facilities surveyed were short-staffed. Staffing levels at nursing homes in Alberta were reportedly as low as two aides per 79 residents. NPD alerted an assistant deputy minister of health last fall and recommended staffing levels be legislated at one aide per five residents.

A spokesperson for the health ministry says that efforts have been made to address the staffing shortages at area nursing homes, including increasing funding in each of the past three years so that nursing homes could hire more employees. Determining effective patient-to-staff ratios, he said, should be well thought out and allow for flexibility rather than be randomly selected.

Canada’s nursing shortage has been an issue for years, prompting a series about “Failed Cure” in The Star. According to the 2008 report, as many as 20,000 nurses were needed in Canada and 40 percent of the country’s 250,000 nurses were poised to retire within the next five years. That report showed Canadian nurses working 18 million hours of overtime each year – the equivalent of 10,000 full-time jobs.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Canadian nursing shortage leads to resident neglect

The single-story building burned so quickly that it was entirely engulfed in flames by the time fire fighters arrived. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined but many are beginning to suspect the 45-year-old building’s poor infrastructure and the gross negligence of a nursing home manager, who had been fined several times prior to the fires for neglecting fire safety rules. For one, he was repeatedly told to install smoke detectors but never did. The home’s staff also reportedly left residents unattended at night.

Russia has been plagued with fire deaths in recent years. In 2008 alone, more than 15,000 people died in fires – five times more than in the U.S. And thus far in 2009, 2,000 Russians have perished in fires. Over the past two years, at least six Russian orphanages, nursing homes and schools have caught fire, killing more than 100 people.

The country is populated by numerous aging buildings with weakened infrastructures and outdated electrical systems, making the buildings unsafe. Inadequate and dysfunctional fire fighting equipment makes fighting the fires difficult. That paired with social issues such as high rates of smoking and alcohol abuse have only exasperated the problem, according to the story.

Critics say the government would rather focus on defense spending, security services and “showy displays of the country’s military,” according to the story. Perhaps the biggest problem, says Boris Nemtsov, a member of congress and former Russian Deputy Prime Minister, is the government’s indifference to its own people.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Russian nursing home fire kills 23, proves fire safety lax in country

The assistant attorney general accused the men of taking more than $600,000 of the $34 million in Medicare funds during that time while also failing to provide basic goods and services to residents of their facilities. Both pleaded guilty in July to misappropriating Medicaid funds, conspiracy, larceny, embezzlement and patient neglect. They were put on a five-year probation and were ordered to pay $150,000 in restitution.

Charges were filed after a three-year investigation which also revealed that the Logan facilities frequently experienced shortages of food, medicine, personal hygiene items and linens. Vendor bills often went unpaid, which resulted in lapses of services such as pest control and medical waste pick-ups.

The Logans also are accused of failure to remit about $55,000 in deductions withheld from employees’ wages for a company-sponsored 401(k) plan. They also are charged with failure to remit more than $22,000 in employee wage withholdings for short-term disability policies and individual life insurance policies.

Gregory Logan’s grandparents Samuel and Florence Logan founded the nursing home operation. The family once owned and operated one of the largest and oldest nursing home operations in the region. In 2003, a judge put four of the homes into receivership, and the fifth home went into receivership in 2004. The order was spurred by mismanagement of the homes. Since then, two of the homes have closed and three were sold to other companies.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Owner of nursing homes faces larceny, conspiracy charges

Last week, Riems entered an Alford plea to four counts of sexual battery and one count of gross sexual imposition. According to AP, an Alford plea is one in which the defendant does not plead guilty but does admit there is enough evidence against him for a conviction. Riems was sentenced Friday to 12 ½ years in prison.

According to earlier reports from Fox News/AP, Riems was accused of raping and assaulting a paralyzed patient. Coworkers reportedly complained nursing home management that he had a temper and had verbally abused patients. One former coworker of Riems said she saw him go into patients’ rooms for long periods of time. When questioned what he was doing in the rooms for so long, he would say “This is none of your business,” according to Fox News/AP.

Riems was videotaped last year admitting that he had abused about 100 patients at nursing homes since the 1980s. His attorney argued that the testimony was coerced and fought to keep the videotape out of trial. The judge ordered that the tape would be allowed in court, which led to Riems’ plea agreement just days before he was to stand trial.

The sentencing offers some closure for the heartbroken family members of the victims. ”I don’t think that anyone knows the hurt and the anger that I am holding for you,” AP reported Bilgen saying to Riems during the sentencing hearing. “It’s something that I will never forgive you for.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Ohio man sentenced for sexual abuse of nursing home patients

If Winchester Centre loses its contract, the home will stop receiving Medicare and Medicaid payments from the federal government and will no longer be certified to care for patients receiving those services. In that event, patients at the home would then be transferred to certified nursing homes, which may result in the closing of Winchester Centre. Officials say they are unsure what will happen to Winchester Centre and that other options besides closing are available, such as bringing in a new group of professionals to run the nursing home and incurring daily fines until specific citations are resolved.

Currently, 166 patients reside in the 183-bed facility. The home offers skilled nursing and rehabilitative care as well as a special unit for patients with dementia. Central Kentucky already has lost 400 Medicaid beds for nursing home patients, said Gannoe. “It’s a disaster for Central Kentucky,” she says.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Kentucky nursing home facing most serious citation

The product, sold by the King Nut Co., of Solon, Ohio, under the brand names King Nut and Parnell’s Pride, are sold primarily to institutions such as nursing homes, hospitals and schools, or as one health official pointed out in the story, “This product could be in institutions with some pretty vulnerable populations, people who are ill and children.”

King Nut Co., voluntarily asked customers to stop selling the peanut butter, and its distributors are pulling tubs from cafeterias.

Salmonella is a bacteria usually found in poultry, eggs and meat, but also can grow in uncooked processed foods. Salmonella attacks the stomach and intestines, causing diarrhea or constipation, nausea, headaches, fever and vomiting. It is most often spread by improper disinfecting in food preparation. In 2007, an outbreak of salmonella that sickened more than 300 people was linked to Peter Pan brand peanut butter.

Federal health officials say the contamination could have occurred during the manufacturing process or from one of the ingredients. They continue to pinpoint the source of the bacteria, according to the report.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Salmonella outbreak linked to death of nursing home resident

The AARP and trial lawyers say that the nursing home industry is simply trying to protect itself at a time when reports of violations at nursing homes are running rampant in the media. The opposition already has caused the powerful nursing home industry to revamp its “The Nursing Home Patient Protection Act of 2008” proposal, raising its proposed cap from $300,000 to $500,000. The lobby group also removed language opposed by AARP that would have allowed nursing homes to require their patients to sign arbitration agreements to prevent lawsuits and to require nursing home suits to have the same legal restrictions as medical malpractice claims.

According to a study conducted by the nursing home industry, Tennessee nursing homes paid nearly $5,000 on average per patient on liability costs, whereas states that had tort reform paid about a quarter of that on average per patient. A nursing home representative said that the mounting costs paid by nursing homes to defend lawsuits eats into profits that could be invested to improve patient care.

Tennessee Rep. Mike Turner, a firefighter who fought the 2003 Tennessee nursing home fire that killed 16 people, says the caps would open the door for more negligence. “These are our most vulnerable people and they earned the right to be treated with dignity in their old age,” Turner said to the paper. “I just think by capping it, we’ve done a disservice to them.”

The nursing home industry and trial lawyers have agreed to meet later this week to discuss a reasonable compromise.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Tennessee nursing homes lobby for caps on damage claims

The study, conducted by the University of Iowa, surveyed more than1,000 nursing home social workers. The results were shocking. Only half of the nursing home social workers questioned had a degree in social work, and 20 percent reported not having a four-year degree at all. The study also found that only 38 percent are licensed in social work.

Nursing homes with 120 beds or more are required to employ a social worker. Often times those nursing homes employ just one social worker, making it difficult for that social worker to devote adequate time for each patient.

Qualifications for social workers also vary from state to state, according to the study. Some states do not address qualifications for nursing home social workers, and others do not appear to comply with federal standards. Twenty-one states require a social work degree, and most others require a four-year degree, but not in social work, according to the report.

Social workers in some areas earn as little as $15,000 per year, whereas social workers in other areas earn more than $60,000 per year.

Mercedes Bern-Klung, the study’s leader says standardizing nursing home social worker qualifications is necessary for social workers to do their jobs properly and effectively.

Results from the national study will be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of American Medical Directors Association.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Study finds nursing home social workers inadequately trained

The Canadian Health Department, which investigated 73 reports filed under the Protection of Persons in Care Act, legislation that was passed and put into practice more than a year ago, qualified 30 of those reports. No details of the types of abuse were identified, but officials said that more than half of those cases were of physical or physical and emotional abuse.

“We know the staff-patient ratio are in some cases unacceptable. There are too many patients with very high needs for the number of staff on a shift,” said Maureen MacDonald, a New Democrat member of the legislature who was quoted in the story.

Health Department director of monitoring and evaluation Donna Dill said that most of the abuse cases reported were not serious physical harm. She says most of the time staff didn’t realize they were abusing patients. “We need to work with them so they can understand what abuse is,” Dill told the news service. Only a few of the cases resulted in staff firings, she said. Most are handled through disciplinary measures and training.

The Nova Scotia Association of Health Organizations, which represents most of the area’s nursing homes, released a statement saying it is working to create abuse-free environments and is working with its members to create anti-abuse policies and procedures.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Canada nursing home abuses linked to understaffing

William’s tragic story is not uncommon. The man was suffering from Parkinson’s disease, and caring for him at home was getting too trying for his family. It was a hard decision, but his family decided William would fare far better if he could receive 24-hour skilled nursing care. They researched their options and decided on Beechwood Park nursing home. Shortly after William was moved there in August, his family began to sense something was wrong.

William started developing bed sores. His doctor also had previously prescribed medication for Parkinsons’ disease and two paracetamol four times a day, however paracetamol was out of stock at the nursing home for 11 days, according to the report. The family also contends that the buzzer to call staff was routinely kept too far out of William’s reach, and that he suffered from dehydration.

A general practitioner was brought in to look at William’s bed sores and was horrified, the family told the newspaper. Just six weeks after he had been admitted to the nursing home, he was sent to the hospital. He died 10 days later.

The family is heartbroken by the pain William endured. They are filing a civil suit against the nursing home and hope the publicity will raise awareness of the dangers of nursing care at Beechwood Park and other deficient nursing homes.

“The Care Commission says only five per cent of homes in Scotland meet the standard they expect. The worrying thing is all of us will be old one day – we could all end up there,” the family told the newspaper.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Family of deceased man files civil suit against nursing home

Measuring the quality of a nursing home is not always clear-cut. More that 1.5 million people live in 15,000 nursing homes throughout the country. Each facility is inspected annually and must meet federal standards in order to participate in Medicaid and Medicare. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has established the site to give the public a better understanding of how nursing homes compare to others.

The site rates three criteria – health inspection, nursing home staff and quality measures. Those three criteria make up the nursing home’s overall rating. The “health inspection” criteria is the data from the last three standard health inspections and all complaint inspections that have been conducted in the last three years. “Nursing home staffing” criteria is gathered from the most recent health inspection and ranks homes based on overall staffing hours and the type of staff employed. “Quality measures” criteria is reported by each nursing home and is based on 19 quality measures collected from residents.

Five stars indicate a nursing home that is “much above average,” and one star indicates a nursing home is “much below average.” An orange icon indicates homes that are considered Special Focus Facilities (SFF), or homes that have a history of persistent poor quality of care.

Those who visit the site can look up nursing home by name, zip code, state or county. Those listings can be further refined into subsets such as “nursing homes within a continuing care retirement community,” “nursing homes within a hospital,” and “nursing homes with resident and family councils.”

While the Nursing Home Compare site offers valuable information, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recommends that family members visit nursing homes they are considering; talk with doctors or other healthcare practitioners, family and friends about their choices; and contact the long-term care ombudsman or State Survey Agency before making a decision.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Web site lists ratings of all nursing homes in country

Working off of a grant from the Kansas Department of Aging, researchers trained staff at three Kansas nursing homes on what sexuality means to older adults, identifying barriers to fulfilling the sexual needs, finding strategies to help residents and how to discern appropriate from inappropriate sexual behaviors. That includes identifying the root of the patients’ needs – be it sexual desire or simply loneliness – and also understanding if a sexual overture or relationship involves abuse or is borne of real need.

“It wasn’t like we hadn’t cared for these needs in the past, but it was liberating to some folks to have an open discussion with university researchers,” says Lillian Claassen, vice president of health services at one of the homes that received training. “It empowered people to think about how they could help folks.”

Advocates say that sex education in nursing homes will become more important as more baby boomers age and need skilled care. The researchers say that guidelines need to be in place to ensure that sexuality in nursing homes is dealt with in a positive way.

“The ultimate goal should be to value the desires and needs of people who have lived long, productive lives and do not forfeit their rights simply because they have aged,” says Robin Dessel, a national expert on dementia, in the report.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Sexual intimacy among residents not unusual in nursing homes

The family members raised concerns of their aunt’s welfare, and questioned the choices of a third niece, who had power of attorney over the aunt. It was she who placed the elderly woman at Bissell Hospital.

After communicating by e-mail with the hospital, the two nieces in late July released the DVD evidence to the Delaware Division of Long Term Care Resident Protection. The agency inspects the 46 skilled nursing homes and four intermediate-care facilities and oversees licensing, conducts criminal background checks, enforces regulations and monitors the welfare of nursing-home patients.

Shortly thereafter, all three nieces were banned from the facility until mediation of a public guardian. The guardian requested the elderly woman be moved to another facility. The move was approved and is planned to take place in January.

The investigation resulted in the firing of three employees and the suspension without pay of two others. Four of the five employees also have been placed on the state’s Adult Abuse Registry, a list of caregivers who have been accused of abuse. Three of those employees are appealing to be removed from that list. There are 246 people on that list and 25 are pending appeal.

The Delaware Attorney General’s Office did not say why it will not prosecute the caregivers in this case.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › No charges filed against caregivers who abused ailing aunt

Brianna Marie Broitzman, 19, and Ashton Michelle Larson, 18, are charged with assault, abuse of a vulnerable adult by a caregiver, abuse of a vulnerable adult with sexual contact, disorderly conduct, and failure to report suspected maltreatment. Broitzman and Larson are face up to a year in jail and $3,000 fine if convicted.

Prosecutors say that the women held down residents, put their fingers in residents’ mouths and noses to quiet their cries for help, hit and rubbed their breasts and genitals, and sexually “humped” some residents. The aides called the humiliating abuse, “work fun to get a good laugh,” according to reports.

Four other teenaged employees have been charged in juvenile court for failing to report the abuse.

State health department investigators reviewed the medical files of all patients who were suspected of being abused, and made personal visits to the 12 survivors. All 15 patients had some form of cognitive disorder, including Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Many were physically disabled and almost all required assistance with activities of daily living.

Minnesota health officials told the Associated Press this week that abuse in nursing homes is rare. However, this week the department reported another case of alleged sexual, emotional and physical abuse of six resident by a nurse’s aide at a nursing home in Montevideo, Minn. The employee, who was fired, denies the allegations. Authorities say that it is unlikely the nurse’s aide will be charged as the patients suffer from cognitive disorders that limit their ability to testify.

Albert Lea has a population of 20,000. With 240 employees, Good Samaritan Society is one of the town’s largest employers.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Three victims deceased in Albert Lea ‘abuse-for-thrills’ case

When Whalen learned that his friend’s death was being investigated, he assumed it was protocol for all nursing home deaths to be investigated by coroners. However, nursing homes in Illinois are not required to report deaths of patients in their care to the coroner’s office. Doing so would enable the coroner to investigate the deaths for possible abuse or neglect.

Morgan County coroner Jeff Lair has made investigating all deaths that occur in nursing homes in his county a policy, and believes a law should be passed so that all nursing homes in his state must report patient deaths to their local coroners.

Only the states of Arkansas and Missouri require nursing homes to report patient deaths for potential investigation. This law spurred the Illinois Department of Public Health to enact a year-long pilot project in 10 Illinois counties – including Lair’s – where all nursing home deaths were reported to coroners. The pilot project was completed last summer. During that time, 3, 669 nursing home deaths were investigated and in eight of those, coroners reported suspicious circumstances surrounding the deaths.

Despite the results, it is unlikely a law will be passed in Illinois requiring nursing homes in the state to report patient deaths. The public health department said legislation would have to be spearheaded by the Illinois Coroners and Medical Examiners Association. And that association said the results just simply were not sizeable enough and likely the law would not come with much-needed funding to carry out the practice statewide.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Pilot project has coroners investigate all nursing home deaths

The doctor said he routinely sees patients from Grand Park Care Center on the verge of death with serious conditions ranging from acute kidney problems, severe pneumonia and malnutrition. He said the conditions indicate neglect by caregivers.

Inspection reports obtained by the television station from the D.C. Department of Health from February and May 2008, reveal numerous deficiencies including failure of nursing staff to notify a physician of a resident’s dehydration, and weight changes and anemia of a resident. According to Jerry Kasunic, D.C. long-term care ombudsman, his staff has filed more than 100 complaints with the Department of Health.

“The neglect and abuse we have seen there is unattended wound care (and) dehydration that has led to malnutrition,” Kasunic said in the report. He specifically reference a recent care where one man from the home entered the hospital critically malnourished. It was obvious to Kasunic that the patient, who was unable to communicate, had received no fluids of any kind.

The nursing home issued a statement saying it is committed to quality improvement and has since hired a new director of nursing and a compliance officer.

Both Kasunic and an inspector with the Department of Health say that the city’s health department needs to be more aggressive in ensuring patients in area nursing homes receive proper care.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Doctor warns of inadequate care at D.C. nursing home

One such contributor is Tim Boyle, owner of Friendship Manor in Grinnell, Iowa, and president of the board of the Iowa Health Care Association, a lobby group that represents nursing homes.

Friendship Manor made news recently after it was fined $112,650 – one of the largest fines ever imposed against an Iowa nursing home. The home was charged with neglecting an 89-year-old woman who died while in residence at Friendship Manor. The victim, Ruth Louden, lived independently and was in good health until she broke her leg and moved into the home for recovery. She complained of excruciating pain but it was only after a physical-therapy aide noticed Louden’s leg smelled like “rotting meat” and that blood was seeping through her medical stocking, that Louden was rushed to the emergency room and treated. Doctors noticed the dressing on her wound had not been touched since it was applied four weeks earlier. Louden’s leg had to be amputated, but she never recovered. She died just a few months later.

The Tribune quotes the Des Moines Sunday Register, which reported that 11 fundraisers were held at Iowa nursing homes. Some of the biggest recipients of contributions from the Iowa Health Care Association Political Action Committee in 2008 included Iowa Democratic Party and Iowa Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal, the Republican party of Iowa, Senate Minority Leader Ron Wieck, and Iowa Gov. Chet Culver.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Iowa lawmakers receive money from nursing home lobby group

Assisted living facilities differ from nursing homes in that they provide less skilled nursing care and in general have fewer state and federal regulations under which they must operate.

Watts is questioning whether there are enough state inspectors to oversee the assisted living homes in South Carolina, placing the most blame on the state Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC). Mental health advocates and the Sheriff’s Association agree that more needs to be done to ensure residents are well cared for and out of harms way.

Complaints have soared in the area, so much so that the DHEC last month hosted a meeting with home operators, state agency representatives and advocates. DHEC turns blame back on the operators, stating in a Sept. 26 memo that home operators are “often unable to achieve the level of care necessary” to comply with state laws, according to The State story.

A DHEC spokesman says that more inspectors are needed to sufficiently oversee the homes on a regular basis. For the past two years, DHEC has asked the General Assembly for funds to hire more inspectors, but those requests were turned down.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Coroner questions number of deaths at assisted living facilities

Many nursing homes who care for patients with Alzheimer’s have practices in place to ensure patients who wander stay within the nursing home wing where they live. But few practices are foolproof.

Late last month, King wandered from his nursing home. That evening around 8 p.m., staff noticed he was missing and notified police. After hours of searching for the 73-year-old man, police got a report of a pedestrian hit and killed by a CSX train. It was King.

“This happens daily,” said Jane Marks with the West Virginia Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. “Unfortunately this situation was more dramatic and had a sad ending, but it does happen constantly.” Marks was quoted last month in The Charleston Gazette.

This morning, the newspaper reported that King’s children have now filed suit against Heartland of Charleston nursing home for wrongful death.

“George King Sr. could not care for himself or be allowed to walk outside the facility and the staff of the facility at Heartland of Charleston was aware of this fact,” the paper quotes the lawsuit.

The lawsuit contends that the staff of Heartland of Charleston failed to keep King secure and failed to utilize available resources to locate him. It also claims that staff did not immediately discover that King was missing nor did they properly use outdoor surveillance cameras to determine which direction he went when he left the nursing home. The lawsuit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Man wanders from nursing home, killed by passing train

The LIKO 102EE mechanically lifting device is used to transfer people with limited mobility from a bed to a wheelchair. LIKO lifts are widely used in Canada and the United States. To date, there have been 12 reports of the LIKO lifts malfunctioning in the U.S. since 2005.

The deceased, Wally Baker, was a resident of Leisureworld Caregiving Centre (O’Connor Gate) in Toronto. He had fallen from the lift at the nursing home on April 30, 2008, and was pronounced dead four hours later after being transferred to a hospital.

Coroner Jim Edwards concluded that nursing home staff did not contribute to the malfunction of the lift, which authorities say should have been authorized by the company’s distributor. Edwards also recommended the lifts be removed from nursing homes until the manufacturer can identify and correct the problem.

Injuries from mechanical lifts are among the most occurring for both patients and caregiver. Caregivers and nursing home staff who use lifts should be thoroughly trained before using them.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Faulty mechanical lift blamed for nursing home resident death

The Des Moines Register reviewed 81 bonus payment programs in 36 different states. Iowa, which began participating in the bonus program six years ago, was one of the first to establish a bonus program.

Of the 36 states that participate in the bonus program, eight do not disqualify a nursing home from receiving bonus money based on regulation violations. Fifteen of the bonus programs are based on quality of care. Points also are awarded for having a large percentage of patients on Medicaid and for offsetting expenses such as property taxes, fire sprinklers, or paying the minimum wage.

Nursing homes that receive the most bonus money do not necessarily have the best rating, the report points out. The bonus program may appear to be an incentive program or to reward quality care; however, its purpose in some cases is to reimburse or offset cost of bringing homes up to state or federal standards or encourage more homes to accept Medicare-dependent patients.

The bonus program first came to light in March after the Des Moines Register reported that some of the state’s most deficient homes were receiving money from the bonus program. Since then, Iowa has begun revising its program, reducing payments to homes that have recently been cited for causing “actual harm” to residents and eliminating payments to homes that put residents in “immediate jeopardy” of death or injury.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Bonuses paid to nursing homes with no regard to quality care

Nursing homes receive higher reimbursements for some medical conditions. The suit alleges that by admitting residents with these conditions the homes were taking advantage of higher profits without regard to whether sufficient care could be provided.

According to the news story, the lawsuit seeks restitution of up to 40 percent of fees paid by private-pay residents, a change in some policies, and a court-appointed monitor to oversee compliance.

Extendicare has eight facilities in Minnesota, some of which have been consistently cited by state inspectors for violations far above the state’s average.

The lawsuit was filed by Laura Bernstein, a resident of one of the homes, on behalf of about 1,400 residents from other homes. Named in the lawsuit are Texas Terrace, Golden Valley Rehabilitation and Care Center, Health & Rehabilitation Center of New Brighton, Richfield Health Center, Robbinsdale Rehabilitation and Care Center, Rose of Sharon Manor in Roseville, Park Health and Rehabilitation Center in St. Louis Park and Galtier Health Center in St. Paul. Two facilities that have since been closed also are named in the suit – Lexington Health & Rehabilitation Center in St. Paul and Whittier Health Center in Minneapolis.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › 1,400 nursing home residents sue Minnesota chain

Earlier this month we told you how hidden surveillance cameras installed at Medford Multicare Center for Living in Suffolk, New York gave the attorney general’s office evidence enough to charge at least four nursing home employees with criminal neglect.

New York leads the nation in using hidden video surveillance to investigate whether there is abuse in its nursing homes. At least 26 of the nursing home employees in New York have been convicted based on hidden video recordings.

The hidden cameras are installed in residents’ rooms with prior permission of family or legal representatives and without the knowledge of the nursing home. Gov. Cuomo hopes the cameras serve as more of a deterrent than means for evidence.

“We’ve had reports [of abuse] for many years, but they are hard cases to make,” Cuomo said in the story. “This allows us to make cases we couldn’t make before.”

While the practice has been lauded by the president of New York AARP, some individuals in the nursing home industry argue that the cameras bring up concerns of a patient’s privacy violation.

According to the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA), statistics on abuse, neglect or exploitation among the elderly is hard to track. However, according to the best available estimates, as many as 1 to 2 million Americans age 65 years and older have been injured, exploited or otherwise mistreated by a caregiver.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › New York puts more hidden cameras in nursing homes

But as Catherine moved into her sunset years at the Lutheran Towers facility in Georgia, she had one regret she just couldn’t shake. She always wanted to graduate from Emory.

National nonprofit organization Second Wind Dreams got word of Catherine’s desire, dressed her in a cap and gown, and presented her with the distinction of being a member of Emory University’s Class of 1028.

For more than a decade, Atlanta, Ga.-based Second Wind Dreams has been enriching the lives of seniors by granting wishes. Many of these residents live in nursing homes or assisted living facilities. To date, more than 235 facilities in 40 states, Canada and even India have see wishes granted by Second Wind Dreams.

The organization focuses on individuals living in long-term care facilities or in hospice care. Many of these individuals are without family support or financial resources. Dreams come in the form of motorcycle rides, bowling games, special first dates, and camel rides.

Eighty-six-year-old Virginia from West Virginia, dreamed of conducting a symphony orchestra. Second Wind Dreams arranged for her to take the podium at the West Virginia Symphony.

At a time when more than 90 percent of our nation’s nursing homes are cited for federal health and safety violations, it is rewarding to see an organization dedicated to making the lives of the elderly happy. A dream come true for one person, can warm the lives of many. As witnessed by Second Wind Dreams: “Long after a dream has been fulfilled, the effects linger, giving all involved a second wind.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Second Wind makes seniors’ dreams come true

Disability Rights Washington (DRW), a nonprofit organization that protects the rights of people with disabilities, reported numerous examples where the three state agencies charged with investigating reports of abuse and neglect failed to protect frail adults. For example, clearing a nursing home of abuse allegations against a 93-year-old resident with suspicious injuries without reviewing photographs or talking to witnesses.

The three agencies cited in the report include Adult Protective Services, Residential Care Services and Health Professions Quality Assurance. The Washington Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) oversees both Adult Protective Services and Residential Care Services. The state Health Department oversees Health Professions Quality Assurance.

The Seattle P-I report cites 2006 data that claims only 10 percent of the more than 13,000 complaints made to Adult Protective Services were substantiated; less than 6 percent of the nearly 23,000 complaints made to Residential Care Services were substantiated; and Health Professions Quality Assurance took disciplinary action in less than 10 percent of the more than 6,500 complaints it received and pursued no criminal charges against a single facility.

All three agencies claim they have insufficient staff with inadequate training to meet the demands of their offices. A spokesperson with Residential Care Services, which investigates allegations against nursing homes and other residential services, says it has begun investigating specific reports of abuse in all facilities. And while the agency recently hired seven additional staff members, they are still too understaffed to oversee the state’s 3,000-plus licensed facilities.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Washington agencies accused of not investigating abuse claims

But John fought back. He saw a poster in his California nursing home about the Ombudsman program, and he made a call. Ombudsmanship Program Director Kathi Toepel paid John a personal visit and, after insisting they talk privately in his room, he asked her to save his toes.

“I’m 92 years old and want to leave this world with the 10 toes the good Lord gave me,” he said.

Toepel discussed John’s case with his doctor and expressed that John was, in fact, able to make his own healthcare decisions. He wanted to save his toes, and Toepel made sure that his will was done.

John lived another 14 months, but he died the way he wanted, with his body intact. “While I understand these are very difficult decisions for family, friends and caretakers to accept, I know that John died with the dignity and respect he deserved,” Toepel said.

Ombudsmen provide a valuable service to the elderly. Not only do they serve as advocates to nursing home residents, they also investigate and resolve complaints and make unannounced visits to nursing homes to ensure residents’ needs are being met. But this valuable program is in jeopardy in California.

According to the Union Democrat, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger used a line item veto to cut the Long Term Care Ombudsman Program out of the budget. The program receives about half its budget from the state. The rest is made up through federal funds and other sources.

While program officials hope the missing state funds will be raised by the community, they are meeting to find ways to through the situation.

This is a tragedy for all nursing home residents, especially the estimated 40 percent who have no family or friends to visit or advocate for them.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › California budget cuts jeopardize nursing home resident advocates

Medicaid, which is the state-federal body that provides health coverage and nursing home care to the poor, pays nursing homes millions each year for treating patients who qualify for Medicaid. Advocates for the elderly contend that nursing homes have successfully lobbied politicians to make qualifying for community care more difficult, thus forcing these older or disabled individuals to move into nursing homes when they are independent enough to live at home, with relatives or in assisted living.

Individuals who qualify for Medicare and who become sick or disabled have no trouble qualifying for nursing homes, but are finding it far more difficult to receive Medicaid-supported services, the report states.

Advocates cite a 1999 U.S. Supreme Court case known as the Olmstead decision, in which the court ruled that the unjustified placement of individuals in institutions such as nursing homes amounted to discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The decision stated that states must provide community care if it can be accommodated and would be appropriate.

“There’s a lot of concern that the nursing home industry is very powerful in many states and has made sure that a lot of Medicaid dollars go to institutional care as opposed to home and community-based care,” says an attorney at the Center for Medicare Advocacy.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Florida Medicaid recipients want to choose where to live

It seemed as if there was no one else to care for them.

A recent investigation has revealed that the residents there were subjected to deplorable living conditions, resulting in the nursing home closing and the Cincinnati Health Department being stripped of its ability to license and inspect skilled nursing homes and residential-care facilities, according to the Cincinnati (Ohio) Enquirer.

It all began last February when Cincinnati police officer Aaron Layton dropped by the facility in search of a suspect. He didn’t find the person he was looking for, but what he did find stopped him in his tracks. The condition of the home was sickening.

Officer Layton got a search warrant and returned 16 days later with other investigators and officers in tow. They were shocked at what they found: exposed wires, leaking sewage, soiled and torn mattresses, vomit on the floor, broken toilets, unqualified employees, improperly stored drugs and people languishing in their own waste.

“There was no compassion, no sympathy for people who were living in these conditions,” says Councilwoman Laketa Cole. “The very people you’d expect to be a proponent for them, failed them.”
The Ohio Department of Health reportedly inspected the facility in January and found 10 deficiencies. Just eight days before the raid in March, the state had cleared the facility of seven of the 10 problems cited, the Enquirer stated.

After months of debate, the City Council concluded city health inspectors had failed to protect the residents and ordered the city’s health department’s licensure and inspection responsibilities be handed over to the state.

Facilities administrator Abe Fischer could serve jail time because of 27 alleged building and fire code violations. He could learn as early as next week if the residential-care facility will lose its city license. The state began fining Fischer this spring – a bill that has reached more than $100,000 – and mandated that he no longer take on new Medicaid cases, according to the story.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Health department stripped of nursing home responsibilities

However, of the 37,150 complaints inspectors received in 2007 about the condition of nursing homes, only 39 percent were substantiated and about 20 percent of those verified complaints involved patient neglect.

Measuring the quality of a nursing home is not always clear-cut. More that 1.5 million people live in 15,000 nursing homes throughout the country. Each facility is inspected annually and must meet federal standards in order to participate in Medicaid and Medicare. Unfortunately, while the standards are the same from state to state, deficiency rates vary.

“Inspectors are subjective and inconsistent. They interpret federal standards in different ways,” the Times quotes Bruce A. Yarwood, president of trade group American Health Care Association. Thus, some states show much higher percentages of deficient nursing homes than others, in what may not necessarily indicate a vast difference in quality of service.

In December, the Bush administration will institute a five-star system to rate overall quality of care in nursing facilities. The rankings will be published on a federal Web site, according to the New York Times report.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Gauging nursing home care quality can be tricky

Joanne now doubts that decision.

Last month, Luveda fell from her bed in the night and pressed her personal emergency call button. The fall caused a two-inch gash on her leg, which bled out on to the floor of her room at Villa Valencia. Nearly fifteen minutes later, a staffer called 911. When paramedics arrived, Luveda was unresponsive and was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.

The Orange County (Calif.) Register reported today that the family of Luveda has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court against Villa Valencai and its owner, Sunrise Senior Living Inc. Joanne contends her mother’s death could have been prevented.

According to the story, a spokesman for the California Department of Social Services said Villa Valencia would be cited for not filing a report about Luveda’s death within seven days of the incident. The citation will require the facility to submit a report on how it would correct similar problems in the future.

While assisted living patients have similar needs to those in nursing homes, they are governed by less stringent regulations.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Family files wrongful death lawsuit against California facility

The Patient Safety and Abuse Prevention Act is sponsored by New Mexico’s senior senator, Pete Domenici, R-N.M., and Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis.

This process could greatly reduce the number of nursing home abuse and neglect cases that plague the long-term care industry. These are tragedies we hear about daily in the news, like the report two days ago of the Jacksonville, Ill., woman suing her father’s nursing home for his wrongful death just 19 days after he was admitted; or the painfully sad story last month of the four nursing home aides in Minnesota who taunted and molested 15 residents suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia simply to “get a good laugh.”

“This bill is an important step in providing the safeguards needed to prevent abuse and mistreatment by those who care for our elderly and disabled,” Sen. Domenici was quoted as saying in The Daily Times. “I hope the Senate will pass it during this legislative session.”

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Senate to consider Patient Safety and Abuse Prevention bill

Perhaps the most useful tool on the site is the National Watch List, which provides a listing of nursing homes cited for violations or that have received substantiated complaints. This list is broken down state by state and then alphabetically by the facility name, with color-coded warning labels and scope/severity codes.

MemberoftheFamily.net also provides an honor roll of facilities found to be deficiency-free.

The organization was founded in the mid-1990s by Dr. Edward C. “Terry” Watters, a Maryland physician fed up with the low standards and lack of sufficient care some of his patients were receiving in nursing homes. Watters and partner Dennis Steele petitioned for government reports about nursing homes and learned how to translate the federal Online Survey Certification and Reporting (OSCAR).

According to the site, “As they assembled the facts and ran statistical analyses, a bleak picture emerged of understaffing, physical abuse, untreated bedsores, and coldhearted decision-making by home operators and state officials charged with monitoring facilities.”

Since 1999, information on MemberoftheFamily.net has been available to the public at no cost. The organization is affiliated with no other group and all efforts have been self-funded.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › web site gives free nursing home info

Nursing home residents and their families who sign mandatory arbitration clauses when being admitted into long-term care facilities, are one step closer to regaining their rights to hold those facilities accountable in court for abuse and neglect, according to the Senior Journal. The Journal reported that the Senate Judiciary Committee this week approved the bi-partisan bill - the Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act of 2008. The bill moves to the Senate for approval.

According to the Senior Journal the bill would invalidate mandatory arbitration clauses in nursing home, assisted living, and other long-term care facility contracts. Under the bill, residents and families could voluntarily choose to arbitrate an issue after a problem occurred, but they would no longer have to agree to give up their right to sue the facility if it severely abused, neglected, or financially exploited the resident.

The Journal noted that nursing homes often are a last resort for families, and many times decisions made during admission are done under desperate or emergency situations. “Individuals and families have little or no opportunity to fully consider and understand the consequences of an arbitration provision buried within and 40- or 50-page admissions document that they are asked to sign during the admissions process.  In many cases, individuals are unaware that they had signed an arbitration agreement,” according to the Journal report.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home residents closer to regaining right to sue

The four aides from Good Samaritan Society nursing home in Albert Lea, Minn., were fired after a coworker revealed that she was aware of the four women abusing residents, the Star Tribune reported. The aides allegedly held residents down whey they resisted, put their fingers in residents’ mouths and noses to quiet their cries and screams, hit and rubbed their breasts and genitals, and sexually “humped” some residents, according to the Star Tribune. Three additional aides who knew about the abuse but did not tell authorities also were fired.

The story quoted one aide as telling investigators that the four women did the reprehensible acts to make “work fun or to get a good laugh.” Another aide was quoted in the story as saying the women accused were confident that the residents wouldn’t complain because they “don’t have their minds.”

The abuse apparently began early this year and lasted for several months. Family members were told in May that something had occurred but did not get details until this week. The story reported that three of the 15 residents have died and the others cannot be interviewed by investigators because they suffer from diseases that affect memory and cognition.

Good Samaritan Society is based in Sioux Falls, S.D., which operates 40 nursing homes in Minnesota. The Freeborn County Attorney is considering criminal charges.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Minnesota nursing home aides abuse patients for thrills

The Times quoted the attorney in the case as saying, “These facilities are giving out brochures about this wonderful, superlative care — one need only look at their regulatory history . . . and see that it’s just not true.” Approximately 4,000 people joined the suit. Contrary to the company’s promotional materials, state regulators found Sun-Mar homes were sorely understaffed and that employees were insufficiently trained.

The attorney laid part of the blame on the California Department of Public Health for not carefully overseeing the facilities, according to the newspaper report. State governments oversee the licensing of nursing homes in each state.

According to the California Public Health Department (CDPH), the department’s responsibility includes overseeing the certification of nursing assistants and licensing of nursing home administrators.

The lawsuit mentioned other facilities across the region where state regulators noted deficiencies. “If everyone had known the regulatory history of these facilities they would not have put their mother or father in them,” the attorney is quoted as saying.

As part of the settlement, a monitor chosen by the plaintiffs’ attorney will inspect five Sun-Mar facilities at random each quarter.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › California nursing home settles lawsuit

According to a report in the Senior Journal, the Government Accountability Office estimated in a July 2004 report that automatic sprinkler systems can decrease the chance of fire-related deaths by 82 percent. In March 2005, CMS began requiring all long-term care facilities that did not have sprinklers to install battery-operated smoke alarms in all patient rooms and public areas, the publication reports.

By 2013, all nursing homes will have to have sprinkler coverage in areas including resident rooms, kitchen, dining and activity areas, corridors, attics, canopies, overhangs, offices, waiting areas, closets, storage areas for trash and linen, and maintenance areas.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Lifesaving: not an option

CMS is the federal agency that manages Medicare, the health insurance program for the elderly and disabled, and Medicaid, the health program for the poor.

On its web site, CMS says the new system is being designed as an easy way for the public to understand their assessment of nursing home quality, and will provide the public with a way to make meaningful distinctions between high-performing and low-performing homes. The rankings will be posted on the agency’s Nursing Home Compare Web Site, with plans to launch the program in December.

In June and July, the CMS is asking the public to visit its site and provide feedback about the new star rating system. A sample screen shot of the proposed star ratings also is available.

A press release on the agency web site quotes Kerry Weems, CMS acting administrator, as saying, “More than three million Americans rely on services provided by a nursing home at some point during the year. The new ‘five star’ rating system will provide a composite view of the quality and safety information currently on Nursing Home Compare to help beneficiaries, their families, and caregivers compare nursing homes more easily.”

According to CMS, this will be the first time the agency has offered a rating system for the fee-for-service, or traditional Medicare progra. Currently, the Compare web site assists beneficiaries and their families in making nursing home choices by providing information on individual measure of quality of care, staffing, and survey inspection information.

Medicare already lists troubled nursing homes in its online database, but that system can be hard for the general public to understand or to navigate. It is hoped that the new system will be easier to use, and therefore more effective for decision making.

Another hope is that by being listed as low performers with the easily identifiable star system, nursing homes that are below par will be motivated to improve, CMS officials say.

Descriptive information about the quality rating system and its progress may be obtained after June 22 on the CMS Hot Topics web page.

Comments and suggestions about the new nursing home rating system should be sent to BetterCare@cms.hhs.gov.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Five-star care

“We believe the vast majority of nursing homes are doing a very good job and working hard to deliver quality care,” Sen. Kohl told the committee. “But we must protect the rights of those who receive inadequate care to hold the facilities accountable.” He said the bill would “send a strong message to underperforming facilities that harmful care is not acceptable.”

Sen. Martinez said the practice of nursing homes requiring residents to sign mandatory arbitration agreements is an overreach of the original purpose of the 1925 Federal Arbitration Act, which he says provides for voluntary arbitration agreements. Requiring a mandatory arbitration agreement as a condition of admittance to a facility is taking advantage of the nation’s most vulnerable citizens, he said.

“I was a practicing attorney for many years, and I believe alternative dispute resolution is a legitimate way to resolve disputes,” Sen. Martinez said, “but it should apply to … people in similar positions when entering an agreement to arbitrate. Prospective nursing home residents – our nation’s most vulnerable population – should not be forced to sign an arbitration agreement as a condition of being admitted to a nursing home.”

Senators Martinez and Kohl pointed out that when patients and their families are at the point of entering a nursing home facility, the patient often is in need of immediate care. Sometimes there are no alternative facilities in close proximity to the patient’s home. Families feel they must sign the agreement in order to ensure their loved one gets needed care right away. Most, they say, do not realize they are relinquishing their rights to go to court.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, spoke in opposition of the bill. He expressed concern that removing arbitration arrangements from nursing homes will cause a rise in long term liability costs and ultimately result in a worse quality of care for the nation’s elderly. He said he believes the proposed Senate bill will result in small business owners going out of business and less well-off seniors unable to afford resulting higher prices.

“I am deeply concerned about nursing home abuse,” Sen. Hatch said. “The abuse of a patient’s trust cannot be tolerated.” However, he said, he feels the problems are being addressed by the nursing home industry.

Sen. Martinez disagrees. Arbitration, he says, “remov[es] the one incentive the industry has to self-regulate and police itself and provide a level of care that I believe is what all of us would like to see for our most vulnerable residents.”

A webcast of the meeting is available at the web site for the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › U.S. Senate debates arbitration

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

Of those 23 homes, 16 stand to collect bonus Medicaid payments this year from state and federal taxpayers, according to the Register. The bonuses are tied to a state program that rewards nursing homes for providing quality, cost-effective care.

Elderly abuse is a crime. If you or a loved one have suffered nursing home abuse and neglect, please contact us today or call your local law enforcement agency.

Here’s how much each home was fined in 2007 and how much it stands to collect this year in performance-based bonuses. The homes are ranked based on the amount of their 2007 fines.

Meadow Lawn Health Care, Davenport
2007 fines: $33,350
2008 bonus: $0
Goldenrod Manor Care Center, Clarinda
2007 fines: $20,000
2008 bonus: $9,680
ManorCare, West Des Moines
2007 fines: $19,500
2008 bonus: $0
Risen Son Christian Village, Council Bluffs
2007 fines: $18,500
2008 bonus: $0
The Abbey, Le Mars
2007 fines: $17,300
2008 bonus: $11,339
Cedar Falls Health Care Center
2007 fines: $16,500
2008 bonus: $0
Iowa Masonic Home, Bettendorf
2007 fines: $15,000
2008 bonus: $44,502
USA Healthcare, Urbandale
2007 fines: $13,400
2008 bonus: $76,859
Ramsey Village, Des Moines
2007 fines: $13,000

2008 bonus: $8,133

Glen Haven Home, Glenwood
2007 fines: $13,000
2008 bonus: $12,028
Park View Care Center, Burlington
2007 fines: $12,250
2008 bonus: $22,418
Woodlands Rehabilitation Center, Council Bluffs
2007 fines: $12,000
2008 bonus: $33,801
Lantern Park Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Coralville
2007 fines: $12,000
2008 bonus: $0
Good Samaritan Home, Villisca
2007 fines: $11,500
2008 bonus: $25,198
Wesley Acres, Des Moines
2007 fines: $11,500
2008 bonus: $8,894
Nelson Nursing Home, Fairfield
2007 fines: $11,500
2008 bonus: $17,972
Oakwood Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Albia
2007 fines: $11,500
2008 bonus: $0
Red Oak Rehabilitation and Care Center
2007 fines: $11,000
2008 bonus: $9,225

Riverside Manor, Ames
2007 fines: $10,500
2008 bonus: $0
Windmill Manor, Coralville
2007 fines: $10,500
2008 bonus: $24,811
The Manor, Malvern
2007 fines: $10,350
2008 bonus: $18,555
Clearview Home, Mount Ayr
2007 fines: $10,000
2008 bonus: $57,552
Elm Crest Retirement Community, Harlan
2007 fines: $10,000
2008 bonus: $24,142

Source: Iowa Department of Human Services, Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals. (Specialized facilities, hospital affiliates and state-run homes do not participate in the bonus program.)

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home fines, bonuses

Sadlier transferred her mother, Rita, from a hospital to a nursing home, thinking she would get rehabilitation. Instead, her mother received poor care and even an injury. Although Rita was there for just a week, Sadlier says she saw so much nursing home neglect that she had to take her mother out of the home.

Rita was initially taken to the hospital around April 4th of this year. She went in for congestive heart failure, thin blood and liver problems. On April 18th, after the hospital determined Rita was doing better, she was transferred to a nursing home. “My impression was that she would be rehabilitated to get back to where she before she went to hospital,” Sadlier says. “She wasn’t in the best of health, but she was getting by. I didn’t expect her to start doing cartwheels or anything. It was supposed to be for rehab.”

On her first visit to the nursing home, Sadlier was shocked by what she saw. “I went into her room and my mother was lying naked in bed,” Sadlier says. “No gown or anything. I’ve never, ever seen my mother like that-she was modest. So I had to go and find someone to get me a gown and help me put it on her.”

Next, Sadlier says that Rita was being given medication and had to go to the bathroom. “My mother was heavy, so I know they might have had trouble helping her to the bathroom,” Sadlier says. “But the nurse said ‘just go’ even though there was no catheter or bedpan nearby. All I could think was, ‘Don’t we use bedpans anymore?’ She went to the home so she could learn to do things herself again, and she was being told to ‘just go’ where she was.”

The problems did not stop there. Sadlier says that her mother, who had congestive heart failure, had fluid restrictions. However, on Rita’s meal tray someone had written a note to staff: “Force fluids.” Another time when Sadlier was visiting her mother, no one even brought in a food tray. She says she had to go ask for one and is certain that if she had not been there, her mother would have missed that meal.

Sadlier says her mother was also supposed to have a special mattress, but one was never put on the bed. After visiting her mother and finding her naked in bed yet again, Sadlier had enough. “She was supposed to be there for rehab, but she was always just laying there. The hospice said that she wasn’t good enough for rehab, but that’s what she was admitted for. The physical therapist said that she was in the wrong section; that she had been put in the Alzheimer’s section instead of rehab and the home said that there were no beds available in rehab to move her to. But I found out later, there were. My daughter’s friend works at the home and told us that someone else had been transferred from the hospital directly to the rehab section. They lied to me.”

After an enormous struggle to have her mother removed from the nursing home, Sadlier was finally allowed to take her mother home. However, even that was complicated. “The ambulance didn’t bring her to my home,” Sadlier says. “They took her to the hospital because the nursing home sent the wrong paperwork–it didn’t have my signature on it. And she was on the gurney, upside down, with her hands tied to the side of the bed. It broke my heart. She had ulcers all over her butt, back, arms and legs. The ambulance attendant took pictures of it because he remembered her from earlier when she went into the hospital.”

Just over a day later, at age 79, Rita died at her daughter’s home. “She was home for a day before she died,” Sadlier says. “I’m just so thankful that I got her out of there. I would never have been able to live with myself if she died in that nursing home. There was so much going on there and I didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t want them to treat her worse.”

Since helping to care for her grandmother, Sadlier’s daughter has decided to become a nurse. “She told us we have to turn people who are in bed (like my mother was) every two hours,” Sadlier says. “They never did that for my mother at the home. I was there quite a bit. So were my aunt and my sister. None of us saw them turn her or care for her properly.”

Source: http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/articles/01651/nursing-home-negligence.html

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Speak out!