According to new U.S Labor Department statistics, nursing home workers are accidentally injured on the job at a higher rate than workers in other types of professions. The statistics measured the injury rates by the number of injuries per every 100 full-time employees in 2010.
Continue Reading...We rely on the buildings we live in to be safe and well taken care of, especially if we are not owners of the property. A 73-year-old man was removed from the debris of his home and suffered only cuts and bruises after the balcony of his apartment collapsed in San Diego, CA.
Continue Reading...In New Jersey, a 78-year-old woman was killed while her and her daughter was killed after a man unsafely backed his SUV and hit them. The man had a history of poor driving on his record.
Continue Reading...A former Keiser Hospital Nurse in Redwood City, California has been sentenced to four days in county jail and two years probation after being accused of punching a 91-year-old patient in the mouth when she refused to take her medication. 59-year old Joan Rogers pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor elder abuse charge in connection with the October 2009 incident. The incident originally occurred when the elderly woman was taken to the hospital with a hip fracture.
Continue Reading...In Hilton Head Island, South Carolina a caregiver at an assisted living center was charged with elder abuse that she committed against several of the women staying there. The Hilton Head assisted living center reported that the 41-year-old Sonia King of Estill will be charged with three counts of abuse of a vulnerable adult.
Continue Reading...In Pittsboro, NC Becky Fisher, 80, is seeking compensation from her assisted living center in Chatman County after surviving an attack by a housekeeper that left two other residents dead. The attack was four years ago with two her friends Peg Murta and Mary Corcoran. Barbara Clark is now serving life in prison because she killed Murta and Corcoran because the three women confronted her about stealing $1,000 from their checking account. Becky Fisher was lucky to survive the attack, suffering a cracked skull and brain injuries from Clark beating her with a walking cane.
Continue Reading...A caregiver in a group home has been accused of abuse of a vulnerable adult after he allegedly placed a 53-year-old man suffering from physical and mental disabilities in scalding hot water. The man suffered second-degree burns to his legs, feet, back and buttocks according to the report on Hometownlife.com.
Continue Reading...In Willmar, MN a nursing home is being blamed for the death of a resident who chocked on raw cucumbers that should not have been served for her according to reports by state officials.
A Hawaii woman has filed a lawsuit against the manufacturers of a hip replacement system arguing that the device was defective and continues to bother her, months after it was implanted. Jacqueline Lum is suing Depuy Orthopedics for an undisclosed amount in punitive damages. According to the report, the defects in the hip replacement system are so severe; it is depositing heavy metals into Lum’s bloodstream including cobalt and chromium.
Continue Reading...According to Mercurynews.com in California, a Los Angeles man was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of his mother in 2008. 48-year-old Richard Carlton Barbera faces the maximum sentence of 15 years to life in prison for the murder of 74-year-old Mary Barbera.
Continue Reading...According to the website newsobserver.com, a nurse at a North Carolina nursing home is facing murder charges following the death of one of her patients due to high levels of morphine. The facility where the nurse worked is also facing a lawsuit from two other patients because they suffered injuries resulting from negligence on the part of the facility.
Continue Reading...When checking mom into a nursing home, in addition to telling them about her favorite foods, you are likely signing away her rights.
Buried in the stack of documents you will be signing is a promise not to sue the nursing home in court if they harm or kill mom.
It's called an "Agreement to Arbitrate" and it is underhanded and a pitiful abuse of trust.
An arbitration is a non-judicial proceeding where an "independent" third person (arbitrator) is given the facts of a dispute and decides the dispute impartially.
However, there is nothing impartial or independent about these nursing home arbitration agreements.
They are one-way agreements giving nursing homes the right to have any dispute, no matter how serious, decided by an "arbitrator" of their choice and they get to decide the rules by which the arbitration will be conducted.
These agreements have been used to prevent courts from holding nursing homes accountable for the injuries and deaths they cause to nursing home patients.
Now there is a bill before Congress that will stop these tactics. It is called The Fairness in Arbitration Act of 2009 (H.R.1237)
This proposed legislation will make these one-sided agreements unenforceable.
Write your Congressman and ask them to support this elder friendly legislation.
For us Arizonans, write to your Congressman:
86303 - 1st District - Kirkpatrick, Ann
85308 - 2nd District - Franks, Trent
85016 - 3rd District - Shadegg, John
85004 - 4th District - Pastor, Ed
85251 - 5th District - Mitchell, Harry E.
85204 - 6th District - Flake, Jeff
85364 - 7th District - Grijalva, Raul
85635 - 8th District - Giffords, Gabrielle
The world of nursing home care changed in 1987 when Congress enacted the OBRA (Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) regulations.
OBRA is a comprehensive set of rules created by clinicians and designed to be a blueprint for quality nursing home care.
I’ve studied and worked with these regulations for over ten years, and I believe that there are four principal regulations that form the backbone of quality care.
The four are:
1. Quality of Life (42 USC 483.15)
2. Quality of Care (42 USC 483.25)
3. Nursing Services (42 USC 483.30)
4. Administration (42 USC 483.75)
1. Quality of Life
“The facility must care for its residents in a manner and in an environment that promotes maintenance or enhancement of each resident’s quality of life.” (42 USC 483.15)
What does “quality of life” in a nursing home mean?
It means that each resident is entitled to:
1. Dignity
2. Self-determination
3. Participation in resident and family groups
4. Accommodation of needs
5. Activities
6. Social Services
7. Safe, clean and comfortable physical environment
Dignity
Each resident must receive care in a manner and in an environment that promotes dignity and respect.
Self-determination
Each resident must be given the opportunity to make their own choices of activities and services.
Participation in resident and family groups
Each resident must be given the opportunity to organize with other residents to discuss issues of common interest and concern.
Families of residents must also be given the opportunity to meet with other families to discuss grievances.
Under both circumstances, the facility must be responsive to concerns and grievances that are raised by these groups.
Accommodation of Needs
Each resident is to receive services in a manner that recognizes any special resident needs such as food choices or accessability requirements.
Activities
Each resident must be offered a program of activities that meets the interests, physical, mental and social abilities. Residents must be afforded the opportunity to participate in social, religious, and community activities of their choice.
Social Services
Each resident must receive medically related social services.
Safe, Clean and Comfortable Physical Environment
Each resident must be provided with a clean, safe and well lighted and ventilated living space.
2. Quality of Care
“Each resident must receive the necessary care and services to attain or maintain the highest practicable physical, mental and psychosocial well-being based on each resident’s assessment and plan of care.” (42 USC 483.25)
This requirement is fashioned to ensure that the resident’s outcome, and not the facility’s capacity, is paramount.
Resident Assessment
Each resident must be comprehensively assessed and evaluated on abilities, needs and risks, among them are the following:
Activities of Daily Living
The resident’s ability to bathe, dress and groom himself; to transfer and ambulate; eat and toilet independently.
Mental and Psychosocial Functioning
The resident’s mental and psychosocial strengths and weaknesses.
Nutrition
The risk for malnutrition must be determined and addressed.
Pressure Sores
The risk of pressure sores must be determined and addressed.
Plan of Care
Every resident need, as well as how the facility will address them, must be outlined in a Plan of Care.
3. Nursing Services
“Each resident must receive the nursing and related services to attain their highest practicable physical, mental and psychosocial well-being.” (42 USC 483.30)
There are no minimum national staffing levels, however, the facility must have sufficient nursing staff to provide each resident with assessments, planning, evaluation, direct care needs and supervision.
4. Administration
“Facilities must be administered in a manner that enables them to use their resources effectively and efficiently to attain or maintain the highest practicable physical, mental and psychosocial well-being of each resident.” (42 USC 483.75)
This is where the buck stops. The facility’s management must administer the facility so that it complies with all federal and state laws and regulations. The governing board sets policies and appoints the Administrator who is the general manager of the nursing home.
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