Sometimes I see news stories with such common fact patterns that I have to look at the date of the report as I frequently ask myself, “didn’t I just see this article?” Unfortunately, the cycle of negligent nursing home care continues with seemingly never ending cycles of stories about patient injury and death. And… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: wheelchair
Unattended Nursing Home Patient Falls Down Stairway In Wheelchair
Posted in Broken Bones, Nursing Home Falls, Nursing Home InjuryParticularly when it comes to physically disabled patients, nursing homes must take steps to protect them from harm due to potentially dangerous conditions at the facility. When facilities fail to take basic steps to safeguard patients from these environmental hazards, we frequently see patients getting severely injured or killed. A recent example of nursing homes… Continue Reading
Failure To Follow Supervisory Guidelines Results In Substantial Fine For California Facility
Posted in Nursing Home Falls, Nursing Home InjuryThe fall-related death of a 58-year-old nursing home patient at Browning Manor Convalescent Hospital triggered an investigation by the California Department of Health that determined that the facilities errors are partially to blame for the death of the patient. An investigation by the agency revealed that the facility violated its own supervisory guidelines in caring… Continue Reading
Improper Maintenance Of Lift Device Costs Nursing Home Patient Their Life
Posted in Dropped PatientsInadequate maintenance of a lift is responsible for the death of a patient at Eskaton Care Center Manzanita (California). The lift at issue is used to help staff transfer physically disabled patients into and out of their bed. According to an investigation completed by the California Department of Health, the 60-year-old nursing home patient was… Continue Reading
Medical Facilities Must Use Wheel-Locks & Supervision To Protect Patients In Wheelchairs
Posted in Nursing Home Falls, Nursing Home InjuryPerhaps the most basic safeguard nursing homes and hospitals can implement with wheelchair patients is the utilization of wheel-locks. Too often, physically disabled patients are simply propped up in their wheelchairs with the assumption that they face little chance of getting injured. However, as I have discussed before, wheelchair patients must be properly supervised… Continue Reading
Wheelchair-Bound Nursing Home Patients Must Be Properly Supervised To Avoid Injury
Posted in Nursing Home Falls, Nursing Home InjuryAllowing a nursing home patient to sit comfortably in their wheelchair in a hall or perhaps in an outdoor area of the facility seems like a pretty innocent act– right? I mean aren’t patients in wheelchairs entitled to a little fresh air or just hang out in an common area with other patients? Despite the… Continue Reading
Court Determines Nursing Home Corporation Can’t Be Criminally Prosecuted For Employees’ Negligent Conduct
Posted in Litigation, Nursing Home Abuse, Nursing Home InjuryThe collective negligence of multiple nursing home employees does not impute criminal conduct on the part of the corporate owner according to a recent ruling made the Supreme Judicial Court– the highest court in Massachusetts. The decision stems from the death of a 74-year-old patient at a MA nursing home owned by Life Care Centers… Continue Reading
Contractures In Nursing Home Patients Put Them At Risk For Developing Decubitus Ulcers & Other Injuries
Posted in Bed Sores, Pressure Sores, Decubitus Ulcers & Pressure Ulcers, ContracturesAfter working on many cases involving the development of pressure sores in a nursing home or other long term care settings, I am convinced that contractures are a tremendously under-appreciated threat to patient health. Like many ailments, we are now learning that getting older should not necessarily mean developing disabling conditions such as contractures- with… Continue Reading
Dropping Patients, Failing To Secure Wheelchairs & Dangerous Driving Put Elderly Patients At Risk Of Further Harm During Ambulance Transport
Posted in Medical Transportation & Ambulance AccidentsVery few people consider the journey to or from a nursing home. Unfortunately, what may be an afterthought for many, has turned into a nightmare for others when they where injured during ambulance transport. Over the years, I have seen many errors made by ambulance drivers and attendants that has resulted in severe injuries to… Continue Reading
Ohio Supreme Court Uphold Nursing Home Arbitration Agreement In Negligence Case
Posted in National Nursing Home IssuesThanks to Sarah Cole at the ADR Blog for addressing the Ohio Supreme Court’s decision in Hayes v. Oakridge Home, (slip opinion No. 2009-Ohio-2054). I believe this decision represents a major setback for the rights of nursing home residents who sustained injuries due to the negligence of the facility. In Hayes, a 95-year-old woman signed an… Continue Reading
An Inspirational Story Of A Young Man Who Regained His Independence After Living In A Nursing Home
Posted in National Nursing Home IssuesNot all nursing home patients are elderly! A blog-reader sent me this inspirational video of Kenny, a 34-year-old man who now lives relatively independently after spending 17 years in a nursing home. Kenny suffered a cerebral hemorrhage as a child that left him confined to a wheelchair, but has not stopped him from enjoying life…. Continue Reading
Why do nursing homes describe pressure sores according to ‘stages’?
Posted in Bed Sores, Pressure Sores, Decubitus Ulcers & Pressure Ulcers, Frequently Asked Questions, Stages of Bed Sores“What do nursing homes describe pressure sores according to stages?” -Edith Phoenix, AZ Nursing homes and hospitals use a four stage scale to describe, monitor and treat pressure sores (also called bed sores, pressure ulcers or decubitus ulcers). By categorizing pressure sores, according to standardized characteristics, a sense of uniformity can be established amongst all… Continue Reading
Nursing Home Staff Must Take Precautions While Moving & Transferring Disabled Patients To Minimize Risk Of Dropping
Posted in Broken Bones, Dropped Patients, Nursing Home FallsThe most dangerous part of the day for many nursing home patients may be getting out of bed in the morning. When staff fail to supervise or provide proper assistance to nursing home patients during transfers, patients are at risk for falls or being dropped by staff. Disabled nursing home patients and those with physical… Continue Reading
Nursing Home Employee Charged With Battery After A Patient Asks For Assistance With Bathing
Posted in Nursing Home AbusePolice arrested Brian Dillman, a CNA at Good Samaritan Home and Rehabilitation, and charged him with battery after he allegedly choked, punched and scratched an elderly woman who asked for assistance with bathing. According to reports, the the disabled woman has bruises and scratches from when Dillman grabbed her from behind and attempted to choke… Continue Reading
Nursing Home Worker Charged With Raping A Wheelchair-Bound Patient At Rhode Island Facility
Posted in Nursing Home AbuseAnother nursing home employee faces criminal sexual assault charges following the alleged rape of a 56-year-old paraplegic patient at Charlesgate Nursing Center in Rhode Island. According to nursing home administrators, this employee passed a criminal background check prior to his employment. The patient asserts that this was at least the second occasion she was raped… Continue Reading
Maximum Fine Levied Against Nursing Home For Failing To Supervise Resident While Smoking
Posted in BurnsNursing homes have a duty to protect their residents from harm inflicted by not just the staff and other residents at the facility–but also keeping residents from harming themselves. Rivera Healthcare Center, a California nursing home, failed to protect a resident from harming himself and consequently received a $100,000 fine– the highest fine permissible under… Continue Reading
Nursing Home Waits 19 Hours To Provide Medical Treatment To Resident Who Fractured Her Hip During Sabina Lift Transfer
Posted in Dropped PatientsA recently disclosed Minnesota Department of Public Health report concluded the Good Samaritan Society of Albert Lea was guilty of ‘neglect’ due to its delay in providing medical treatment to a resident who fell during a transfer from her bed to her wheelchair. The episode took place on November 21st when a worker at… Continue Reading
Fall Leaves Veteran With Broken Neck In Illinois Nursing Home
Posted in Dementia / Alzheimer's PatientsCapital Care Center, an Illinois nursing home, has been fined by federal health officials for failing to prevent an dementia resident from tumbling down an unsecured stairway in his wheelchair. Illinois Department of Public Health reports claim Alfred ‘Stan’ Catherwood, a World War II veteran, suffered from dementia and was considered a high risk for wandering… Continue Reading
Florida Nursing Home Accused Of Abuse
Posted in Nursing Home AbuseThe Florida Agency for Health Care Administration and the Department Of Health and Human Services have ordered the Key West Convalescent Center to improve the care it provides to its residents or it will be forced to closed its doors. Among the charges of abuse and mismanagement of funds charges, the nursing home is accused of:… Continue Reading
World’s Tallest Woman Dies In Nursing Home
Posted in National Nursing Home Issues7-foot-7, Sandy Allen, the world tallest woman died yesterday in an Indiana nursing home. Sandy Allen was 53-years old. Ms. Allen received care at Shelbyville Nursing Home for medical conditions related to her extreme height. Poor circulation in her legs caused Ms. Allen to rely on a wheelchair for getting about. Although Sandy Allen weighed… Continue Reading
Safe Transfers
Posted in Nursing Home FallsA ‘transfer’ in a nursing home setting generally refers to moving a patient from a bed to a wheelchair. Transfers are usually done two ways: using nursing assistants or mechanically (Hoyer lift). The type of transfer depends mainly on the patients physical condition. If a patient is capable of providing some assistance, a staff lift… Continue Reading
In For Rehab. Out With Bedsores.
Posted in Bed Sores, Pressure Sores, Decubitus Ulcers & Pressure UlcersAn Ohio woman is bringing a lawsuit against Mansfield Memorial Homes for improper care resulting in bedsores. Dorothy Modcap, 64, sought skilled rehabilitation for a fractured hip following an auto accident. What she got instead was a bedsore and infection. According to her attorney, no preventative measures were put in place to prevent the development… Continue Reading