The Guardian Blog : Arizona Nursing Home Lawyer & Attorney : Solomon & Relihan Law Firm : AZ Assisted Living Neglect & Abuse : The Guardian Blog

A nursing home in Brooklyn that neglected a 76-year-old man and caused him to get more than 20 bedsores will be required to pay nearly $19 million to the victim’s family. 76-year-old John Danzy lost nearly 100 pounds and suffered from a serious infection as a result of his bedsores after six months of staying at the Brooklyn Queens Nursing Home. It was also discovered that the nursing home had doctored records to cover up their neglect. As a result, the jury awarded $3.5 million for pain and suffering and $15 million in punitive damages for the doctored records.

Bed sores are one of the most common and most serious results of nursing home neglect. They are caused when a patient is forced to lay or sit in the same position for a long period of time. Nursing homes are required to turn or move patients on a regular basis to prevent bed sores from occurring and keep records of these movements to ensure that they are done properly. Bed sores can erode skin and cause holes in the body and lead to serious infections and even death. If you have a loved one in a nursing home, you should check for bed sores and ask to see records to ensure that bed sores are not developing.
 

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A former nursing home worker in Lufkin, TX was recently sentenced to 20 months in jail after pleading guilty to abuse of a 77-year-old nursing home patient. The victim’s husband had noticed signs of abuse, but due to his wife’s mental state, it was difficult to prove that abuse was taking place. The husband then planted a hidden camera in his wife’s room and recorded two instances of the worker abusing his wife by grabbing her arm and twisting it violently and striking her repeatedly on the arm.

This case illustrates several problems that nursing home residents and their families must deal with. Since many nursing home residents suffer from Alzheimer’s, dementia, and similar disorders, they may not be able to report abuse themselves, so family members must be vigilant in looking for signs of abuse. In addition, since this abuse happened repeatedly, after the husband had noticed it, the administrators of the nursing home may be found liable for the abuse, as they allowed it to happen on multiple occasions despite there being signs that abuse was taking place. If you believe your loved one is being abused in a nursing home, you should contact a nursing home abuse attorney to discuss your case and decide on the best course of action.
 

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A former nursing home worker in Lufkin, TX was recently sentenced to 20 months in jail after pleading guilty to abuse of a 77-year-old nursing home patient. The victim’s husband had noticed signs of abuse, but due to his wife’s mental state, it was difficult to prove that abuse was taking place. The husband then planted a hidden camera in his wife’s room and recorded two instances of the worker abusing his wife by grabbing her arm and twisting it violently and striking her repeatedly on the arm.

This case illustrates several problems that nursing home residents and their families must deal with. Since many nursing home residents suffer from Alzheimer’s, dementia, and similar disorders, they may not be able to report abuse themselves, so family members must be vigilant in looking for signs of abuse. In addition, since this abuse happened repeatedly, after the husband had noticed it, the administrators of the nursing home may be found liable for the abuse, as they allowed it to happen on multiple occasions despite there being signs that abuse was taking place. If you believe your loved one is being abused in a nursing home, you should contact a nursing home abuse attorney to discuss your case and decide on the best course of action.
 

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According to a recent report in the Washington Post, Washington, D.C. is severely lagging in investigating abuse at group homes for people with developmental disabilities. The report found that the city had not filed timely reports for over 400 cases. This report illustrates the problem of group home abuse investigations throughout the country, as underfunded and overworked government agencies cannot keep up with the number of abuse cases. Additionally, these are just the cases that are reported. Many cases of group home abuse go unreported.

Here in Arizona, our government agencies face similar problems properly overseeing group homes that care for adults with developmental and physical disabilities. Therefore, if you have a friend or loved one in such a facility, it is important to be diligent in looking for signs of abuse. These signs could include depression, welts, lethargy, or other sudden and unexplained changes in mood or behavior. If you believe your loved one is being abused, you should contact an experienced group home abuse attorney to discuss your case and decide the best course of action.
 

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Arizona is one of the few states in the country that has a unique statutory definition of “abuse” of nursing home patients.

“Abuse” means:

1. Intentional infliction of physical harm.
2. Injury caused by negligent acts or omissions.
3. Sexual abuse or sexual assault.

This definition is broader than the common definition of abuse and therefore includes what would ordinarily be classified as simple negligence. This expanded definition is helpful in asserting claims for poor care given to Arizona nursing home patients.

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It is always difficult to tell a family that I am unable to represent them regarding the loss or severe injury of their loved one in a nursing home.

However, arriving at the right decision as to whether to accept a nursing home neglect and abuse case is the foundation of a nursing home practice.

Difficult decisions are made at the junction where emotion and intellect intersect.

Emotion is the first to weigh in when a death or life changing event is presented to me for review. It is difficult not to become incensed at the poor care given to our most vulnerable patients or to become attached to a family that has lost a loved one.

Since intellect, in the form of practical considerations, are slow to appear, caution in the decision process is well advised.

Nursing home, assisted living, and group home cases are expensive, labor intensive and emotionally draining for an attorney. They are also difficult for families because they take a long time to resolve and therefore there is delayed closure of the emotional wound.

The first consideration is whether the neglect or abuse resulted in significant injury or death.

The second consideration is whether the injury or death was the result of neglect or abuse.

Having said that, my analysis as to whether to move forward is based on a broad view of the nursing home (including both the specific facility and the parent organization).

I examine the history of the nursing home to determine whether they have had similar problems in the delivery of patient care. Have they learned from their prior mistakes or are they continuing with the same conduct?

I determine whether the harm was the result of a systemic failure such as inadequate staffing, training or oversight. These systemic failures are evidence that the facility was incapable of providing quality care.

I then determine whether the systemic failures were the result of corporate business decisions. In other words, did the nursing home corporation decide to place profits over quality patient care and did that decision lead to the injury or death?

The answer to this question will determine whether the facility’s conduct warrants an award of punitive damages. Punitive damages are assessed against a facility to punish it for outrageous conduct.

Going through these considerations in the case selection process enables me to decide whether to accept or reject a nursing home case. However, it doesn’t make it any easier to tell a family that I am unable to help them.

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Who is in the best position to report abuse and neglect in a nursing home? The nursing staff, of course. A great many nurses and nurse aides are dedicated caring professionals. Then why aren’t they reporting?

One reason may be is that there isn’t much patient neglect and abuse in nursing homes. However, we know that just isn’t true, so we must look further for the answer.

As it turns out, there is a recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association (AMDA) which discusses this very issue.

The AMDA article reports on a study done in Iowa and concludes that, although nursing home staff is aware of their duty to report as well as the mechanism for reporting, there is little reporting of neglect and abuse by staff (53% admitted suspicion yet only 35% reported abuse).

The article concludes that the reasons for under-reporting are:

1. Inadequate education and training as to whether actions by fellow caregivers rise to the level of a reportable event.

2. Fear of lack of anonymity.

3. Fear of retaliation by fellow workers and the employer.

4. Inexperience of co-workers in dealing with difficult residents.

5. Staff fatigue resulting from being overworked.

6. Lack of comfort with the reporting agency.

Whatever the reason for inadequate reporting, it is vital to all our welfare that nursing home staff be encouraged and supported in fulfilling their duty to report suspected abuse and neglect.

The “Guardian Blog” will provide information to help both families and professionals assess and improve the quality of nursing home care in Arizona and the Guardian Blog will encourage dialogue with and among its readers.
 

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Nursing homes receiving Medicare or Arizona Long Term Care funds must comply with federal nursing home health and safety regulations.

Nursing homes that are unwilling or unable to provide quality care must not be allowed to retain their license to engage in business in the State of Arizona.

In Arizona, the Department of Health Services (DHS) is the enforcement agency, acting on behalf of both the federal and state governments.

DHS is responsible for ensuring that Arizona nursing homes follow state and federal regulations and provide quality care to their patients. DHS is supposed to be an advocate for nursing home patients.

Nursing homes are required to be inspected at least once every fifteen months and are to be cited for any deficiency in patient care. Inspections must occur more frequently, however, in the event a complaint is filed against a nursing home for poor care.

Poor Enforcement Equals Poor Care
When health and safety regulations are not strictly enforced, nursing homes are encouraged to neglect patient care in their pursuit of profit.

Strict Enforcement Equals Good Care
On the other hand, when nursing homes are held accountable through strict enforcement, patient care and quality of life improve.

Nursing Homes Promise to Mend Their Ways
Although cited nursing homes promise the DHS that they will correct and improve patient care, many of these same nursing homes continue to provide poor patient care.

It is up to the DHS to prevent repeat offenders from providing bad care to our most vulnerable citizens.

Failure to Strictly Enforce Regulations
All too often, however, the DHS fails to act as an advocate for quality patient care and permits nursing homes with repeat violations to continue to retain their Arizona license.

Generally, the most important health and safety regulations are those that require each nursing home have sufficient nursing staff to provide quality care to patients.

However, in Arizona, there is no minimum staffing level required. This makes the DHS inspector’s role most important and difficult. They must determine whether the facility they are inspecting has enough nurses and nurse aides while considering the medical acuity and functional level of each patient.

This is a big job and the inspectors do not uniformly take the time necessary to perform this analysis.

It is up to us to demand patient protection through strict agency enforcement of health and safety regulations.

The “Guardian Blog” will provide information to help both families and professionals assess and improve the quality of nursing home care in Arizona and the Guardian Blog will encourage dialogue with and among its readers.
 

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