Some states are opting to make the flu vaccine mandatory to all nursing home and hospital workers. State officials are making the claim that patient protection outweighs individual choice. With nursing home and hospital workers at constant contact with the patients, the threat for outside illness weighs on the mind of many family members.
Continue Reading...When an elderly individual is under the care of a nursing home, we expect that since they are under constant surveillance their health will be monitored and taken care of at the best capacity. Based on a new study that was published in the Annals of Surgery, the findings suggest that the elderly who stay in a nursing home may suffer from more complications than other elderly who live on their own.
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.
According to Mercurynews.com, a Santa Cruz bank teller prevented theft of a large sum of money. According to the report, a 90-year-old woman showed up to the bank and attempted to take out a large sum of money, stating that a man with a badge came to her and told her she was required to pay a bond associated with an accident she was in.
Continue Reading...In the early morning of August 7th, 2010 in Beverly, MA the Beverly police responded to a report of an assault at the Blueberry Hill Nursing Home. One of the nursing home residents allegedly attacked another resident is being taken to court on charges of attempted murder and assault and battery on an elderly person.
Continue Reading...The ABC15 Investigators are investigating Arizona adult guardian group Sun Valley Group of Tempe after several allegations of abuse and possibly criminal behavior. Adult guardians are court-appointed representatives who are entrusted with protecting the rights and interests of adults who cannot make decisions for themselves, such elders who suffer from dementia or Alzheimer's disease. In addition to the many complaints from family members documented by ABC15, Sun Valley Group is also the subject of two separate criminal investigations.
Continue Reading...The Patient Safety and Abuse Prevention Act was reintroduced into the Senate this week. The bill is intended to prevent workers with criminal histories from working in skilled nursing facilities.
The bill requires each state to establish coordinated systems that include checks against neglect and abuse registries, the FBI database and state police records.
The bill had been introduced last year but failed to make it out of Congress.
State background investigation requirements are checkered and lack any uniformity making it easy for someone with a criminal conviction in one state to escape detection in another.
If this legislation becomes law, it will go a long way in reducing violence to nursing home residents.
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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