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

According to the investigation, only 20 minutes passed since a nursing home staff member saw the victim and the time of his death. An alarm also sounded when the man passed through a security door.

The resident who died suffered from dementia, a condition that often makes its victims prone to wandering. Many facilities who treat patients with cognitive disorders have security doors and alarms to alert staff when residents wander out of range.

Just last month we told you about a resident of a Massachusetts nursing home who died after the wheelchair she was in rolled down a flight of stairs. The woman had wandered off from the nursing home unnoticed. Family members argued nursing staff should have taken stronger measures to ensure her safety. She was not wearing the doctor-prescribed security bracelet that would sound an alarm if she wandered too close to the facility’s exit. Regardless, family members want to know why no one on staff even noticed her leaving. In that case, the parent company, Life Centers of America, which owns Life Care Center of Acton, was charged with manslaughter neglect of a long-term care facility resident. The company faces up to $6,000 in fines.

Sources:
Brenham Banner-Press

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing home resident dies after fall down steps

The police launched an investigation at the home, interviewing everyone there who had contact with Asher. It was only then that the staff director admitted to wrong doing – she had burned him with hot water. That admission led to the arrest of Seijdra Eribo on suspicion of felony injury of a disabled person causing severe bodily injury, according to the report.

A spokesperson with Medical Case Management said the company performed a routine criminal background check on Eribo before she was hired in 2007. She began work at the home as a nursing aide. The company fired Eribo for not fully cooperating with the investigation.

The home has not received any disciplinary action by state regulators in the past, and doesn’t plan to make any changes in the future as the home, he said, followed followed state regulations. “It bothers us. It really bothers me if she did it,” said Robert Taylor, program director for Medical Case Management.

Asher’s family still cries when they think about the burns their son sustained while at the nursing home. “That house should not be open for business,” said Asher’s sister Katrina, to CBS11 TV.

SOURCE: Nursing Home Abuse › Nursing aide arrested for burning disabled man

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

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