No Training Will Prevent Situations Involving Stupidity From Occurring At Some Nursing Homes
Recognizing that staff may lack training in certain areas essential to patient care, many nursing homes have begun to implement training programs at their facilities to help teach proper protocols-- and hopefully improve patient care. While the training can be quite effective in terms of improving the satisfaction of patients and prevention of medical errors, no amount of training will suffice in order to prevent situations involving harm to patients stemming from a basic lack of common sense or carelessness. I began thinking about how many common errors involving injuries to patients in nursing homes derive not from improper medical...
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How Much Do Nursing Home Need To Be Fined In Order To Clean Up Their Acts
Many of my blog entries focus on sad incidents where a nursing home patient has received seemingly horrific care during an admission to a nursing home. Many of these incidents indeed get investigated by state agencies and--- in some cases-- the facilities receive a fine. Most nursing home fines are controlled by individual states. However, even within each state, the fines are indeed arbitrary. I mean what is the cutoff between a nursing home getting fined $5,000, $10,000 or $20,000? Sure there may be varying degrees of patient injury or culpable behavior on the part of the facility, but ultimately...
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Grand Jury Indicts Elderly Woman On Charges Related To The Murder Of Her Roommate In Nursing Home
98-year-old Laura Lundquist is one step closer to a jail house cell after a Grand Jury indicted the woman on murder charges related to the strangulation and suffocation death of her 100-year-old roommate earlier this year. A Judge ordered Lundquist to undergo an evaluation at a hospital to determine if she is competent to for a criminal trial. According to the District Attorney, Lundquist's roommate was found dead in her bed during a routine check. An autopsy confirmed that Lundquist's roommate died from manual strangulation and suffocation. Related: Centenarian Murdered At Nursing Home With Troubled Past Autopsies May Help...
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Elder Abuse Suspected At Assisted Living Facility
The Los Angeles Times recently reported on a story involving potential abuse of an Alzheimer's patient at an assisted living facility in California. Four employees of the Calabasas assisted-living facility were recently arrested on suspicion of elder abuse stemming from the death of a resident last year. Elder abuse charges follow on a report from an anonymous whistle blower who was an employee at the facility. The whistle blower told the victim's family that a co-worker had punched the resident in his eye and attempted to suffocate the man shortly before his death. The allegations have been confirmed by the...
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Sputum Color As Indicator Of The Quality Of Nursing Care
Who really likes to think about sputum or mucus? Well, Thomas Sharon, R.N. at legalnurseconsultanttom.com points out that sputum color is an important factor to look at when evaluating the quality of breathing tube care. Breathing tubes such as tracheostomies and ventilators are a common medical medical conditions for nurisng home and long-term care residents. Obviously, these medical condions require ongoing nursing care which is beyond the common knowledge of many nursing home residents and their families. As nurse Tom discusses in his recent post, nurses must reposition and clean the breathing tube in order to prevent infection and...
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Employee 'Quiets' Man With Pillow
Forget about asking a nursing home resident to be quiet or actually attending to what may resident needs- just stick a pillow on their face and hope that quiets them. That is the approach used by Jesse Bodey, an employee at Life Care nursing home used with an 85-year-old man when he was screaming in the nursing home. Witnesses say Bodey then placed a pillow over the patients head. A co-worker reported the incident, but when the supervisor checked on the patient, the pillow was gone. The staff at the home told Police that Bodey wasn't trying to suffocate the...
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