Thursday, October 27, 2011

Nursing Home Survey on Patient Safety Culture: 2011 User Comparative Database Report

Based on data from 226 nursing homes in the United States, the Nursing Home Survey on Patient Safety Culture: 2011 User Comparative Database Report provides initial results that nursing homes can use to compare their elder patient safety culture to other U.S. nursing homes. The report consists of a narrative description of the findings and four appendixes, presenting data by nursing home characteristics and respondent characteristics for the database nursing homes.

Patient Culture Survey Part 1 2011

Patient Culture Survey Part 2


Nursing Home Survey on Patient Safety Culture: 2011 User Comparative Database Report

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Fayette jury awards more than $1 million in nursing home injury case | Voiceless & Vulnerable: Nursing Home Abuse

A Kentucky jury ruled Monday that Lexington's Cambridge Place Nursing Home should pay more than $1 million in damages to a resident who fell and was found severely injured in an equipment storage room.
Irene Hendrix was found in January 2009 after she went missing while moving up and down the hall in a Merry Walker, a type of walker that includes a seat. She had broken bones in her face, there was bleeding in her brain, and she had a 4-centimeter cut on her forehead, a cut on her lip and a swollen eye, according to state documents.
Hendrix, who was in her late 80s at the time and who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, had to be hospitalized. She has since moved to another nursing home.
In 2009, Hendrix's daughter and guardian Mary Gullette filed a lawsuit against N&R of Cambridge Place LLC, identified in state records as the owner of the nursing home, and Health Systems of Kentucky LLC, identified in state records as the management company for the nursing home. The lawsuit alleged negligence, which nursing home officials denied.
The jury deliberated about two hours Monday before awarding $1 million for Hendrix's physical pain, suffering and mental anguish and $27,473.48 for her medical costs.
"A jury spoke today regarding the level of care they expect for their loved ones in nursing homes in Fayette County," one of Gullette's attorneys, Scott Owens, said after the verdict was returned.
Fayette jury awards more than $1 million in nursing home injurx case Voiceless & Vulnerable: Nursing Home Abuse Kentucky.com

Saturday, October 22, 2011

CDC Pressure Sore Data Briefs - NCHS Number 14 - February 2009

Data from the National Nursing Home Survey, 2004
In 2004, about 159,000 current U.S. nursing home residents (11%) had pressure ulcers. Stage 2 pressure ulcers were the most common.
Residents aged 64 years and under were more likely than older residents to have pressure ulcers.
Residents of nursing homes for a year or less were more likely to have pressure ulcers than those with longer stays.
One in five nursing home residents with a recent weight loss had pressure ulcers.
Thirty-five percent of nursing home residents with stage 2 or higher (more severe) pressure ulcers received special wound care services in 2004.
Pressure ulcers, also known as bed sores, pressure sores, or decubitus ulcers, are wounds caused by unrelieved pressure on the skin (1). They usually develop over bony prominences, such as the elbow, heel, hip, shoulder, back, and back of the head (1-3). Pressure ulcers are serious medical conditions and one of the important measures of the quality of clinical care in nursing homes (1,4). From about 2% to 28% of nursing home residents have pressure ulcers (2,3). The most common system for staging pressure ulcers classifies them based on the depth of soft tissue damage, ranging from the least severe (stage 1) to the most severe (stage 4). There is persistent redness of skin in stage 1; a loss of partial thickness of skin appearing as an abrasion, blister, or shallow crater in stage 2; a loss of full thickness of skin, presented as a deep crater in stage 3; and a loss of full thickness of skin exposing muscle or bone in stage 4. Clinical practice guidelines for pressure ulcers have been developed and provide specific treatment recommendations for stage 2 or higher pressure ulcers, including proper wound care (5). This Data Brief presents the most recent national estimates of pressure ulcer prevalence, resident characteristics associated with pressure ulcers, and the use of wound care services in U.S. nursing homes.
Products - Data Briefs - Number 14 - February 2009

94-Year-Old Beaten to Death in Nursing Home

Authorities say an 81-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder for allegedly beating to death his 94-year-old roommate at an Orange County nursing home. According to police, William McDougall allegedly took a bar used to hang clothes from a closet, and used it to repeatedly strike his roommate, Manh Ban Nguyen, about the head.
94-Year-Old Beaten to Death in Nursing Home - By his 81-year-old roommate