As More Sex Offenders Make Their Way Into Nursing Homes, Are Facilities Exposing Themselves To Increased Liability?
As if nursing home patients and their families didn't have enough to worry about with respect to receiving proper medical care, many patients may be shocked to learn that they are living amongst registered sex offenders. While the component of sex offenders in nursing homes is nothing new, the fact remains that as a generation of sexual deviants ages--- their need for skilled nursing care is expanding. With few alternatives, many convicted felons--- some of whom have particularly disturbing backgrounds are settling into long-term care facilities such as nursing homes and assisted living facilities. While their need for medical care...
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Learning About Nursing Homes, Part 1: Nursing Home Surveys
For many families, there's a real feeling of helplessness when it comes to selecting a nursing home for a loved one or perhaps learning more about an existing one. Certainly, with many families living vast distances from their loved ones, I can sympathize as to the feelings of despair. However, there is some good news. With nothing more than a computer and access to the internet, you can actually learn a great deal about the facility where your loved one lives. Sure, nothing will take the place of a visit to the facility itself, but with a little digging in...
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New Program Focuses On Staffing To Improve Patient Care In Nursing Homes
I recently read about The Critical Access Nursing Home Project, a program initiated to help ‘at risk’ nursing homes in urban areas in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Georgia improve the quality of their care. Though participation in the program is voluntary facilities must meet criteria applicable to the composition patient demographics such as: operating in an urban area, a large percentage of minority patients on Medicaide and a large percentage of patients with serious health problems. The primary focus of the program is to focus on staffing retention and morale to improve patient care. All nursing homes are understaffed. We’re...
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Tougher Regulations For Illinois Nursing Facilities Caring For Children Coming In Near Future
The widely publicized Chicago Tribune investigative article regarding a large number of neglect-related deaths of children at a Chicago nursing facility appears to have caught the attention of Illinois officials. Recently, Illinois officials held meetings with child advocacy groups and representatives from facilities that care for disabled children in order to get input regarding legislation to help protect this vulnerable group from mistreatment. In response to a similar series of articles the Chicago Tribune did regarding the problems encountered at more 'traditional' nursing homes, legislation was quickly passed to protect the growing nursing home population. However, despite the improved regulation...
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More Care Options for Seniors Leaves Some Nursing Home Operators Crying Poor
Not surprisingly, nursing homes make money by keeping their facilities fully stocked with patients. Many expenses relating to the operation of skilled nursing facilities are fixed-- utilities, lease of the property and staffing--- are all relatively constant for nursing home operators-- regardless of how many people are in facility. Lower occupancy rates obviously translate to lower profits at most skilled nursing facilities. Despite the obvious economic incentive to keep beds at facilities as full as possible, I was somewhat disappointed when I read an article appearing in the Rockford Register Star by Melissa Westphal, "Nursing home leaders: Need is being...
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Nursing Home Spotlight: Collinsville Rehabilitation & Health Care Center
According to a January, 2010 report from the Illinois Department of Health, Colliinsville Rehabilitation & Health Care Center made several errors with respect to handling incidents in which a patient was sexually assaulted by another patient. The nursing home survey revealed that in November, 2009 a convicted felon as admitted to the facility as he was accompanied by his parole officer. Management at Colliinsville was also aware of the man's criminal background and existing diagnoses of: Alcohol abuse Cocaine dependency Hepatitis C Antisocial personalty disorder- a perverse pattern of disregard for and violation of, the rights of others that begins...
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Nursing Home Safety Bill Provides Promise Of Improved Care In Illinois
Last week, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed a bill that promises to improve care of nursing home patients throughout the state. Though many of the details need to be hammered out, the new legislation will hopefully eradicate many of the recurring problems patients face such as: violence, recurring episodes of neglect and inconsistent care. Among the highlights of the new nursing home legislation include: Hiring new nursing home inspectors in an effort to reach a ratio of one inspector per every 500 patient beds Increased criminal background checks and psychological screenings of nursing home patients Creation of alternative housing arrangements...
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Class Action Lawsuit Against Skilled Healthcare Seeks Damages For Chronic Understaffing Of Nursing Homes
If you were to look at just one criteria for selecting a nursing home, I'd tell you to look at the facilities staffing levels. Sure, its nice to have a sparkly new facility and perhaps a gourmet chef, but when it comes down to patient care nothing can take the place of a sufficiently staffed facility with properly trained men and women. In order to assure that nursing home patients are adequately cared for, some states such as California have legislated minimum hours of care provided to patients on a daily basis. While the number is of course somewhat arbitrary...
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Nursing Home Spotlight: Milestone-Elmwood East
Milestone-Elmwood East is a small, 12-bed nursing home located in Rockford, Illinois. Milestone, Inc. is a private, not-for-profit corporation that provides “residential, developmental, vocational, and social support services for adults and children with mental retardation, autism, epilepsy, and cerebral palsy.” This facility committed serious violations that led to the choking death of one resident. (See Nursing Homes Abuse Blog: Topic – Choking) This nursing home committed several serious 4th quarter violations relating to the area of policy and procedure. (See “42 Illinois Nursing Homes Cited in 4th Quarter of 2009 for Violations Related to Patient Care”) The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) fined the...
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Day Care Worker Leaves Children Unattended In Gym. Situation Demonstrates The Need For More Regulation Of Child Care In Alternative Settings
A client emailed my the above news clip regarding a day care worker at a gym that abandoned the children she was responsible for looking after in order to attend to a personal errand. Of course, I was shocked and appalled by this blatant disregard to child safety, but what is most disturbing about this story is the fact that most quasi-day care facilities in... a gym, a church or any privately operated facility where the parents are on the premises are not subject to the same scrutiny -- and laws that a 'normal' day care facility obligated...
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