Following Discovery Of Injuries In Centenarian, Authorities Initiate Investigation Of Abuse At Nursing Home
Tennessee authorities are now investigating what appears to be tell-tale signs of nursing home abuse following the hospitalization of a 100-year-old woman. After the centenarian was admitted to the hospital with severe hemorrhaging, broken ribs and pressure sores, the hospital contacted the local police department as well as the Tennessee Adult Protective Services. Prior to her hospitalization, the woman was a patient at Boulevard Terrace Nursing Home for treatment related to a fractured femur she sustained prior to her admission. As authorities look into this patient's suspicious injuries, the woman's family has relocated her to another facility. Most states have...
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Teenage Nursing Home Visitor Suspected Of Raping Patient
Protecting nursing home patients seems like an obvious responsibility of nursing homes, yet too often facilities are lax when it comes to regulating the visitors who come-and-go freely at many facilities. Of course its nice to simply see new faces at the facility-- but there needs to be some method of accounting for who enters and leaves the facility. On the topic of nursing home visitors, I was sickened by a news report of and 18-year-old man who allegedly raped an elderly female patient at Woods Nursing Home in Tennessee. Apparently, the man was at the facility to visit another...
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Did Assisted Living Facilities Neglect Result In Patient's Impacted Bowel & Death?
Well, according to a Tennessee jury, the answer to the above question is a resounding 'yes'! Evidence was presented to the jury regarding the circumstances that led up to the death of a resident at Celebration Way, a Tennessee assisted living facility in 2004 due to an intestinal obstruction and sepsis. Among the claims presented by the family of the deceased was that the facility was so understaffed that they could not provide adequate care for the woman. This claim was substantiated at the trial against the facility when it was demonstrated that despite orders for 60 doses of MiraLax,...
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Ambulance Accident Claims The Life Of A Nursing Home Patient After Dialysis Treatment
I was recently emailed a news story involving a 78-year-old patient at Lakeshore Nursing Home in Nashville, TN who died when the ambulance in which she was a passenger, collided with a truck parked on the shoulder of the road. The victim identified as Sue Bly, was being transported back to her nursing home in the back of a Rural / Metro ambulance from dialysis treatment. In addition to the death of Ms. Bly, the ambulance driver also died in the accident. Apparently, the ambulance driver drove into a Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) truck that was parked on...
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Nursing Home Spotlight: NHC Healthcare, Bristol, VA
NHC Healthcare is a, 120 bed nursing home located in Bristol, Virginia. According to the government’s Medicare website, the facility received only one out of five stars, which is a much below average rating. In the past year, the nursing home had sixteen health deficiencies, which is eight more than the average number of health deficiencies in Virginia and eight more than in the United States. The number of health deficiencies has increased steadily over the past two years, especially in the area of qualify care. The Virginia Department of Health is in charge of licensing for Virginia nursing home facilities. The facilities are inspected every...
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The Most Important Job In America.... Nursing Home Surveyors
Firefighters, teachers and doctors are all important to the functioning of our society. Without the services they provide, people would suffer in many respects. But when it comes to jobs that are pivotal to the immediate safety, health and overall welfare of people-- especially the elderly, I nominate state and local nursing home inspectors as the most important job in America. Go ahead email me about how 'wrong' I am. There can be no doubt that without this group of civil servants an untold number of our elderly would suffer serious injury or die needlessly. Nursing home inspectors are on...
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Medication Aides In Nursing Homes: A Push To Save Money Or Improve Patient Care?
A bill in the Tennessee Legislature would create a new 'medication aide' position in nursing homes. The bill would allow medication aides to administer medication under the supervision of licensed nurses as opposed to a registered nurse- a more advanced position. Applicants for the new position would need a high school diploma, one year experience as a nurses aide in a nursing home and passage of a standardized exam. An improvement to patient care or simply cutting corners? Proponents of the bill claim the creation of a new group of medication aides will free up more experienced nurses to work...
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Who Benefits From Damage Caps In Nursing Home Lawsuits?
Not surprisingly an article supporting damage caps in nursing home lawsuits was written by nursing home administrator, Carrie Ermshar in the Tennesseean.com. In her piece, Ermshar equates damages awarded to an injured person as a penalty against a nursing home. "We must ask ourselves a tough question: At the end of a lawsuit, who is really being punished?" Now, before anyone accuses me of taking Ms. Ermshar's comments out of context, I suggest you read her entire piece. Nonetheless, Ermshar's understanding of the reasoning behind nursing home litigation is off-base. Nursing home lawsuits are intended to compensate the injured party...
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Judge Tosses Manslaughter Charges Against Nursing Home Employees In Case Involving Death Of Disabled Resident
Judge Susan Grant dismissed the manslaughter charges against three nursing home employees in a case involving the death of a disabled resident at a Michigan Nursing Home. The charges were filed in 2006 following the death of Sarah Comer at Metron Nursing Home. The case received national attention when it was revealed that Comer was transferred to Metron from a hospital in critical medical condition on a weekend when the facility was under-staffed. Shortly after her arrival at Metron Nursing Home; Comer died. It was alleged that Comer died because the staff allowed her oxygen supply to run out....
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Appellate Court Orders Retrial In Nursing Home Negligence Case With $29.8M In Punitive Damages
Following an appeal by a nursing home operator based on an excessive verdict, an Appellate Court has ordered a re-trial of the punitive damage aspect of a nursing home negligence case. The case was originally tried in Warren County Circuit court and a jury awarded $4.1 M in compensatory damages and $29.8 M in punitive damages. The nursing home negligence lawsuit was brought by the daughters of Cheatum Myers, an 88-year-old man who allegedly died prematurely while he was a resident at a nursing home owned by National Healthcare Corporation, a Murfreesboro-based nursing home operator. The family's lawsuit involved...
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