More than a month ago two nurse assistants at Bandera Road's Princeton Place nursing home started noticing problems. Sandra Lujan, a four-year veteran of the facility, claimed she saw elderly patients with abnormal and excessive bruising, including bruises in the shapes of fingers and torn skin on faces. Sonia Roman, a nurse assistant at Princeton Place for two years, also saw similar bruising. She also questioned whether there was enough staff to care for all 134 patients, saying many were routinely left unattended. She even confronted one nurse she saw verbally abusing and threatening an elderly patient.Last month both brought reports of abuse and neglect to the nursing home's administration. Within hours both were suspended for insubordination and eventually fired.
Firing employees who come forward with abuse or neglect allegations is not new. It is a pattern I have seen in Nursing Home litigation. Although the term "whistleblower" may not apply to all employees who complain about adequacy of care, the reaction by some nursing homes is the same. In litigation against a Kindred facility involving complaints of abuse by a CNA (certified nurse aide), the complaining persons eventually left because they felt ostracized by their co workers after reporting deficiencies. Some feel threatened. Nursing homes sometimes in-service the reporting individuyal rather than the alleged offender! This is a clear sign of a culture that does not put the care of residents first.
The QueQue: Nursing home whistleblowers fired, Lamar Smith's 'Holiday on ICE', TCEQ tracking emissions in the Eagle Ford - News and Politics - San Antonio Current
Monday, April 30, 2012
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