Jonathan Rosenfeld's Nursing Homes Abuse Blog : Jonathan Rosenfeld's Nursing Homes Abuse Blog | Lawyer & Attorney : Strellis & Field Law Firm | Bed Sores, Senior Neglect, Elder Abuse, Sexual Abuse: Chicago, Illinois

A colleague forwarded me this video with Dr. Dale Bratzler of the Oklahoma Foundation for Medical Quality as he discusses the prevalence of pressure ulcers amongst patients in nursing homes and hospitals in the state.  Unfortunately, Oklahoma is one of the top five worst states in terms of frequency of development of pressure ulcers.

Dr. Bratzler suggests that the best method of prevention is to educate 'front line workers'-- those who typically provide the most hands-on patient care as to what can be done to from a prevention standpoint and how identify the wounds in their early stages before they become particularly problematic.

I couldn't agree more.  In my experience by the time a pressure ulcer (similarly called: bed sore, decubitus ulcer or pressure sore) has developed, it is really a display of a complete breakdown in patient care at the entire facility.  In the days and weeks a stage 3 or 4 pressure ulcer develops, it literally means that shaft-after-shift of nurses or aides failed to do their job.

Related:

Why do nursing homes describe pressure sores according to 'stages'?

A Graphic Example Of Nursing Home Negligence: Amputation Of A Leg Due To Untreated Bed Sores

Updates From Bed Sore FAQ. Top-Ten Most Visited Entries

Reducing Decubitus Ulcers In Hospitals. How One Facility Managed To Reduce Hospital-Acquired Wounds By 63%

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Sure looks can be deceiving, but this guy sure looks creepy to me!

The guy pictured above is Franklin D. Hughes, a former CNA at Bartlesville Care Center.  If his creepy looks weren't enough, Mr. Hughes stands accused of sexually assaulting two dementia patients he was responsible for caring for at Bartlesville.

Making situation even more tragic is that Mr. Hughes was was accused of committing similar sexual acts with dementia patients at his prior job at the Nowata Nursing Center.  

According to a court affidavit, the patients at Nowata filed complaints with the Oklahoma State Department of health in 2003 and 2007.  Probably due to the patients dementia, the cases were closed because the patients could not provide details of the sexual abuse.

Admittedly, I am unfamiliar with the reporting professional reporting policies in Oklahoma, but if Bartlesville Care Center officials had access to the state's investigative file relating to Mr. Hughes prior conduct and either failed to make an inquiry or turned a blind eye, they certainly may open themselves to civil liability with respect to these most recent incidents.

Read more about this abusive CNA in an Oklahoma nursing home here.

Related Nursing Homes Abuse Blog:

Ohio Nurse Sentenced To 12 and 1/2 Years For Sexually Abusing 100 Nursing Home Residents

'Senior Sitter' Charged With Sexual Assault Of Nursing Home Residents

Nurses Admit To Problems At Nursing Homes

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When will cameras become standard issue in nursing homes and assisted living facilities?  Amongst many elderly who are unable to effectively communicate, the only way of 'catching' abusive situations is via surveillance cameras.

A camcorder left in a patients room caught Jason Lynn Pearl abusing two residents at Silver Lake Care Center.  At the time the abuse took place, Pearl was working at the nursing home.  Two co-workers saw the videotaped abuse and reported the situation to authorities. 

Pearl now faces two counts of felony abuse by care taker and is being held by authorities on $100,000 bond.

About Silver Lake Care Center

All residents of Silver Lake Care Center, will be forced to moved from the facility by the time it shuts its doors on June 5th.  The Oklahoma nursing home is owned by Eddie Martin.  Martin owns five other nursing homes and assisted-living facilities in Oklahoma including:

• Pleasant Springs In Colcord
• Cimarron Pointe Care Center in Mannford
• Coweta Manor Nursing Home in Coweta
• Glenpool Health Care Center in Glenpool
• Rolling Hills Care Center in Catoosa
• Sequoyag Pointe Living Center in Owasso
• Shawn Manor Nursing Home in Ponca City

Coincidentally, each facility Martin owns has 32 security cameras mounted in the facilities.  Martin apparently monitors all cameras from his home.  I guess he can't monitor all of the cameras?

Read more about this case of nursing home abuse in an Oklahoma Nursing Home here.

Related Nursing Homes Abuse Blog Posts On Elder Abuse

What Is Elder Abuse?

94-Year-Old Charged With Raping Co-Resident In Oklahoma Nursing Home

Caught On Tape: 90-Year-Old Man Beaten By Home Nurse

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As we recently discussed, a 94-year-old resident at Grace Nursing Center was charged with the rape by instrumentality after assaulting another resident at the facility.  Now, details of the matter have been revealed in an Oklahoma Department of Health report. 

The report concludes that the nursing home made errors in how they handled evidence from the assault and failed to act when staff saw the perpetrator acting inappropriately towards other nursing home residents days before the rape occurred.  Among the errors detailed in the report:

• The facility failed to timely notify the victims family after the incident-- the facility waited more than 1 hour, 35 minutes to report the incident to family
• Failing to protect evidence of alleged crime-- the facility washed the victims bed linens and the perpetrators clothing immediately after the incident
• The nursing home administrator and staff physicians were not timely notified after the incident
• The facility failed to take preventative measures with respect to the perpetrator-- days before a nurses aide saw the man inappropriately touching other nursing home residents and pulling up their shirts

A Perfect Cause founder, Wes Bledsoe says the facility is to blame for the incident itself, "I hold the facility accountable for this, if not more so than the assailant in this case."

The perpetrator will not stand trial for the rape charges as he died just days after the Oklahoma District Attorney filed the charges. Read more about the sex assault of a nursing home resident here.

Resources For Sex Abuse Victims

Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website

Faith Trust Institute

National Domestic Violence Hotline

National Sexual Violence Resource Center

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Charges of first-degree rape by instrumentation have been filed against 94-year-old Lester Pendergast.  The charges stem from a September, 2008 incident when a witness caught Pendergast performing a sexual act on a 67-year-old at the Grace Living Center in Oklahoma.  A local hospital used a rape kit to confirm the sexual contact had taken place.

According to a statement released by the facility, “Grace Living Center of Edmond takes the responsibility to protect all residents very seriously. We discovered the incident and immediately took steps to provide for the safety and care of the residents; we reported the matter to the health department and police; and the male resident was promptly removed from the facility. We have cooperated fully with authorities throughout the investigation.”

A Perfect Cause, an organization dedicated to long-term care reform, believes it is in the best interest of other nursing home residents to publicly identify Mr. Pendergast as a sexual offender.  

Oklahoma is slated to be the first state in the country to open a special nursing home dedicated to housing sex offenders exclusively.  Read more about this nursing home rape here.

Sex Offenders In Nursing Homes

Currently, our nursing home system does little to prevent known sexual predators from becoming part of the general nursing home population.  As we can see by this case, age does not take away violent tendencies.  

In order for nursing home residents to live safely, nursing homes should take preventative measures: conducting background screens of all residents, refusing to accept known sex offenders as residents, keeping younger nursing home residents away from the older ones and providing adequate supervision.

According to Kathleen Dugan of The Lebanon Daily News, common signs of sexual abuse include:

Physical signs of sexual abuse:

• Bruising on inner thighs
• Genital or anal bleeding
• Sexually transmitted disease
• Difficulty walking or standing
• Pain and/or itching in the genital area
• Exacerbation of existing illness

Emotional signs of sexual abuse:

• Scared or timid behavior 
• Depressed, withdrawn behavior
• Sudden changes in personality
• Odd, misplaced comments about sex or sexual behavior
• Fear of certain people or of physical characteristics

Related Nursing Homes Abuse Blog Posts On Sex Abuse:

New Nursing Home To Be Built For Sex Offenders 

Alzheimer's Patient + Sex Offender= Trouble 

Solution To Sex Offender Problem- Separate Them

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Its a fine line between ordering an under performing nursing home to close its doors versus giving the facility an opportunity to improve.  Many of the 'under-performing' facilities are responsible for caring for some of the most challenging residents--those that other facilities are incapable or simply refuse to care for.  In the end, resident safety needs to preempt all other factors when making a determination as to a facilities future.

Case in point, Whispering Pines Nursing Nursing Center-- which has lost its Medicare and Medicaid funding-- effectively forcing the facility to close its doors.  The decision to pull federal funding was due to serious deficiencies relating to patient safety discovered during inspections of the facility. 

Consequently, 128 patients and 140 employees will need new facilities to live and work in within the next 30 days.  Among the safety problems at Whispering Pines noted in a recent report include:

• Failing to investigate allegations of abuse
• Failing to provide condoms to sexually active, HIV-positive residents
• Not regularly screening residents and employees for tuberculosis

"Whispering Pines has chronic problems, and they're unable to provide us with any credible evidence that they could clear them up," said Dorya Huser, long-term care division chief for the Oklahoma health department.  "We're looking out for the best interest of the people that live there and deserve a better standard of care."

According to Dr. Tom Merrill, the medical director at Whispering Pines, moving the residents will traumatize and disrupt their care. "It is good care by excellent nurses who are faced with patients that have challenging psychiatric problems.  This is not good for any of them."

Who could argue that residents deserve to live in a safe facility?  However, is it realistic to expect psychiatric residents to find a new facility with just 30 days notice? Is any way an under-performing facility can be turned around?

Whispering Pines Nursing Home In The News

Family Alleges Abuse At Norman Nursing Home

Nonprofit sought answers in abuse at Whispering Pines Nursing Center

Norman Nursing Home Nightmare

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The Oklahoma Health Department has fined the Whispering Pines Nursing Center for multiple instances of nursing home abuse and neglect.  Among the allegations, the nursing home was cited for:

• Forcing a patient into a shower while fully clothed
• Failing to investigate complaints of physical abuse among residents
• Failing to provide adequate training to nursing home staff
• Failing to provide condoms to sexually active HIV positive nursing home residents

The health department is recommending Whispering Pines immediately correct its dangerous conditions or the facility will not be permitted to accept new Medicare and Medicaid patients.  Read more about this Oklahoma nursing home here.

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