Allegations of abuse of a nursing home patient

A Rankin County woman is accusing a nursing home of abusing her elderly mother.
It is an allegation officials at the Brandon facility deny.
Betty Lovern Chambers has posted pictures on her Facebook page that show injuries her Tommi Lovern, 74, suffered last week.
"I feel strongly in my heart that it is abuse and neglect," Chambers said.
She said a nurse at the Brandon Nursing Home &Rehabilitation Center called her at 1:30 a.m. on January 25th telling her that her mother was admitted to the hospital after she fell from her wheelchair.
"I went over to the nursing home to confront the nurse on duty which was Crystal Wheaton...Her exact words to me were 'I had had enough," Chambers said. "So I gave her an Ativan to calm her down, and I didn't want her to wake the other residents."

Allegations of abuse of a nursing home patient - Flash Player Installation

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What Keeps The CNA Going?

Good article on the challenges facing CNA's in Nursing Homes. The writer mentions the "G" (Greed) word as a factor in the compromise of elder care in nurssing facilities.
Some excerpts: "When a resident is a two assist meaning that there needs to be two people to care for them by state law and only three CNA's on a shift all the residents suffer. Lights are ignorned residents fall, and some are left in their own feces or with there pants down because a CNA can't get back to them to help. As someone looking in on this it is sad that in some of these Nursing Homes where one unit like rehah pays for the entire place yet employees are told there is are enough funds to hire more help. The other day I read about the oath doctors take in the medical profession, and after reading it again I certainly question why this abuse continues. For these men, and women who give of themselves they get burnt quickly, and much of the time sugar and coffee are two drinks that keep them going. How good is that for their bodies, and minds? As I wrote before there is no Humanity where this is happening.

A growing number of physicians have come to feel that the Hippocratic Oath is inadequate to address the realities of a medical world that has witnessed huge scientific, economic, political, and social changes, a world of legalized abortion, physician-assisted suicide, and pestilences unheard of in Hippocrates' time.
One is told it will get worse? why? this writer still says greed, and employers trying to squeeze the most out of an employee. During Hippocrates time there where no CEO's of companies no issues with states, and federal government it was about patients~!! As in this verse, I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone. Speak to anyone in a nursing home and see how many are being harmed by the lack of care~!!!!

New Year's Resolutions? What Keeps The CNA Going? - Syracuse Job Search Examiner.com

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Suspicious Elder Deaths Rarely Investigated

Joseph Shepter died in January 2007 at age 76. On Shepter's death certificate, the nursing home's chief medical officer, explained that the cause was heart failure brought on by clogged arteries.

Shepter's family had no reason to doubt it. The local coroner never looked into the death. Shepter's body was interred in a local cemetery.

A tip from a nursing-home staffer would later prompt state officials to re-examine the case and reach a very different conclusion.

When investigators reviewed Shepter's medical records, they determined that he had actually died of a combination of ailments often related to poor care, including an infected ulcer, pneumonia, dehydration and sepsis.
Investigators also concluded that Shepter's demise was hastened by the inappropriate administration of powerful antipsychotic drugs, which can have potentially lethal side effects for seniors.
Prosecutors in 2009 charged two former colleagues with killing Shepter and two other elderly residents. They've pleaded not guilty. The criminal case is ongoing.

Gone Without a Case: Suspicious Elder Deaths Rarely Investigated - ProPublica

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Soaring numbers of patients die with bedsores and infected wounds

Numbers of nursing home patients dying with bedsores and infected wounds soaring
Seventy five patients are dying in hospitals and care homes every day while suffering from conditions caused by neglect, new figures show.
In 2010, more than 27,000 people died with bedsores or infected wounds - a rise of more than 50 per cent in a decade.
Bedsores are caused when patients are not turned regularly, or are left in poor hygiene. They may become infected if not spotted and treated quickly.
Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the English Patients Association called the figures "horrifying".

She said: "When people are admitted to hospital, they are weak and vulnerable, and they have to trust in the health service to care for them.
"Instead, tens of thousands of people are dying every year while afflicted with bedsores and infected wounds - this is as shaming as an indictment of the care they received as it is possible to see."
Earlier this month Mr Cameron announced that nurses would have to undertake hourly ward rounds to check whether patients are hungry, in pain, or need help going to the lavatory.
It followed spot checks by NHS regulators, which found that half of 100 hospitals were failing basic standards to treat elderly with dignity, and ensure they were properly fed.
At Alexandra Hospital, in Redditch, West Midlands, failings were so fundamental that it was warned last May that it was breaking the law.
Since then, families of more than 20 patients treated there have contacted lawyers alleging major failings and indignities suffered by their loved ones, including patients left in soaking sheets or dying without food or crucial medication.
Soaring numbers of patients die with bedsores and infected wounds - Telegraph:

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Attorney General's office reviewing citation against nursing home

A state citation against a central Kentucky nursing home is being reviewed by the Kentucky Attorney General's office. The citation stems from how staff at Charleston Health Care Center in Danville responded to allegations that a male nurse's aide was mistreating patients, according to the Lexington Herald Leader, which obtained the citation through an open records request (http://bit.ly/sNFSlB).
It says abuse allegations weren't immediately reported to administrative staff, weren't thoroughly investigated and weren't reported to all the appropriate state agencies.
Nursing home attorney Lisa Hinkle says the facility is appealing the citation and challenges the factual findings of the Office of Inspector General. She says no allegations of elder abuse have been substantiated and the home has "provided quality nursing-facility care to its residents for a very long time."
The type of citation issued means that a resident's life or safety was put in danger. The Cabinet for Health and Family Services sends all such citations to the Attorney General's office, which decides whether it should be referred to local prosecutors.
According to the citation and other documents, a resident who was admitted in 2010 with a head injury and schizophrenia accused the aide in July of abuse. The citation says the resident told nursing home staff that the aide "placed a pillow over the resident's face in an attempt to suffocate the resident, and then hit the resident four times, twice on each side of the head."
The nursing home's written response to the state says the allegation appeared to be untrue because of the "resident's mental status and frequent statements that did not reflect reality."
An administrator also told investigators that the resident recanted, according to state documents.
However, a certified medical assistant told investigators that the resident had a small facial bruise that wasn't there before the allegations were made, documents said.
She says no allegations of abuse have been substantiated and the home has "provided quality nursing-facility care to its residents for a very long time."
In addition to those allegations, the citation says investigators interviewed six staff members who accused the aide of behaving inappropriately with residents from February through August. The citation says staff witnessed the aide being "physically, mentally, and verbally rough with residents" and saw him kiss them.
One of the witnesses was the home's human resources director, who told investigators that she had counseled the aide and informed the director of nursing, state documents said.
But according to the citation, "there was no evidence these allegations had been investigated and reported by the facility. In addition, there was no evidence the facility protected residents from further potential abuse."
Ky. Attorney General's office reviewing citation against Danville nursing home The Republic
http://www.kentucky.com/2011/12/12/1991539/state-attorney-general-to-review.html#ixzz1gKaRro37

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Minnesota allows elder care jobs to former criminals

During the past six years, Minnesota has granted more than 15,000 waivers to people with criminal records seeking employment in nursing homes and other state-regulated care programs, state records show.
Under state law, people are automatically rejected for those jobs if background checks reveal they have committed any crime on a list of disqualifying offenses. But through a little-publicized appeals process allowed under the law, former criminals who request a second chance usually get their wish.
The most forgiving state agency among the two that grant waivers is the Health Department, which approved 75 percent of 10,000-plus appeals with little public scrutiny, records show.
More than 5,000 waivers went to people who wanted to work in nursing homes or home care agencies. Those applicants were convicted of misdemeanors to felonies, including assault, fraud, false imprisonment, forgery, robbery, theft and making terroristic threats, as well as drug and alcohol offenses, records show.
State regulators said they don't know how many of those ex-criminals actually went to work in nursing homes and other facilities because they don't track that information. They also don't follow how many of those individuals subsequently harmed their vulnerable clients or committed additional crimes
State OKs care jobs for former criminals StarTribune.com
see also: http://www.startribune.com/projects/124663134.html

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Mandatory Arbitrations in Nursing Homes Hurting Elders

Hamill Law - YouTube

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