Attorney General's office reviewing citation against nursing home

A state citation against a central Kentucky nursing home is being reviewed by the Kentucky Attorney General's office. The citation stems from how staff at Charleston Health Care Center in Danville responded to allegations that a male nurse's aide was mistreating patients, according to the Lexington Herald Leader, which obtained the citation through an open records request (http://bit.ly/sNFSlB).
It says abuse allegations weren't immediately reported to administrative staff, weren't thoroughly investigated and weren't reported to all the appropriate state agencies.
Nursing home attorney Lisa Hinkle says the facility is appealing the citation and challenges the factual findings of the Office of Inspector General. She says no allegations of elder abuse have been substantiated and the home has "provided quality nursing-facility care to its residents for a very long time."
The type of citation issued means that a resident's life or safety was put in danger. The Cabinet for Health and Family Services sends all such citations to the Attorney General's office, which decides whether it should be referred to local prosecutors.
According to the citation and other documents, a resident who was admitted in 2010 with a head injury and schizophrenia accused the aide in July of abuse. The citation says the resident told nursing home staff that the aide "placed a pillow over the resident's face in an attempt to suffocate the resident, and then hit the resident four times, twice on each side of the head."
The nursing home's written response to the state says the allegation appeared to be untrue because of the "resident's mental status and frequent statements that did not reflect reality."
An administrator also told investigators that the resident recanted, according to state documents.
However, a certified medical assistant told investigators that the resident had a small facial bruise that wasn't there before the allegations were made, documents said.
She says no allegations of abuse have been substantiated and the home has "provided quality nursing-facility care to its residents for a very long time."
In addition to those allegations, the citation says investigators interviewed six staff members who accused the aide of behaving inappropriately with residents from February through August. The citation says staff witnessed the aide being "physically, mentally, and verbally rough with residents" and saw him kiss them.
One of the witnesses was the home's human resources director, who told investigators that she had counseled the aide and informed the director of nursing, state documents said.
But according to the citation, "there was no evidence these allegations had been investigated and reported by the facility. In addition, there was no evidence the facility protected residents from further potential abuse."
Ky. Attorney General's office reviewing citation against Danville nursing home The Republic
http://www.kentucky.com/2011/12/12/1991539/state-attorney-general-to-review.html#ixzz1gKaRro37

Minnesota allows elder care jobs to former criminals

During the past six years, Minnesota has granted more than 15,000 waivers to people with criminal records seeking employment in nursing homes and other state-regulated care programs, state records show.
Under state law, people are automatically rejected for those jobs if background checks reveal they have committed any crime on a list of disqualifying offenses. But through a little-publicized appeals process allowed under the law, former criminals who request a second chance usually get their wish.
The most forgiving state agency among the two that grant waivers is the Health Department, which approved 75 percent of 10,000-plus appeals with little public scrutiny, records show.
More than 5,000 waivers went to people who wanted to work in nursing homes or home care agencies. Those applicants were convicted of misdemeanors to felonies, including assault, fraud, false imprisonment, forgery, robbery, theft and making terroristic threats, as well as drug and alcohol offenses, records show.
State regulators said they don't know how many of those ex-criminals actually went to work in nursing homes and other facilities because they don't track that information. They also don't follow how many of those individuals subsequently harmed their vulnerable clients or committed additional crimes
State OKs care jobs for former criminals StarTribune.com
see also: http://www.startribune.com/projects/124663134.html

Mandatory Arbitrations in Nursing Homes Hurting Elders

Hamill Law - YouTube

Final rule gives providers and beneficiaries access to quality data - McKnight's Long Term Care News

A final rule issued Monday will allow Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries access to information about costs and quality of care information about various providers including nursing homes, regulators say.
As required by the Affordable Care Act, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced a proposed rule designed to help beneficiaries make more informed decisions in June. The final rule, effective Jan. 6, 2012, gives qualified organizations and beneficiaries access to reports about providers, such as nursing homes, hospitals and physicians. The reports will be a combination of private sector and Medicare claims data, and patients' identities will be protected.
According to the rule, “qualified entities may receive data for one or more specified geographic areas and must pay a fee equal to the cost of making the data available.”
See Rule: final_data_rule_7685.pdf
Final rule gives providers and beneficiaries access to quality data - McKnight's Long Term Care News

Neglect common in Michigan nursing homes

Michigan issues thousands of violations against nursing homes each year, but the number of documented cases of outright abuse is much smaller, though exact numbers are hard to come by.
Four of five Michigan nursing homes in a three-year period were cited for some form of nursing home mistreatment. But that label covers everything from an aide striking a resident to more passive lapses, such as failing to conduct a background check on an employee or an aide's failure to report an unexplained injury.
For example, Tendercare in Kalamazoo County was cited in November 2010 after an aide pinched and slapped a 100-year-old woman who used a racial slur while resisting going to bed, an inspector wrote. A co-worker said the aide then walked away like nothing happened.

Neglect common in nursing homes, but state seldom cites outright abuse Detroit Free Press freep.com

Depression and stress prevalent in low-wage earning nursing home workers

This study reveals findinfs that are NO surprise to anyone familiar with American Nursing homes: The prevalence of depression is common among low-wage nursing home workers — who also experience higher levels of stress than other workers — a new Harvard study finds. In one case I handled against Kindred Healthcare, the CNA accused of abusing 4 Elders with Alzheimers had worked an incredible 105 hours in one week.
“The high burden of work-family stress and depression in this group has important public health implications for the nursing home workers and their families as well as for the quality of care delivered to nursing home residents,” said Harvard School of Public Health researcher Cassandra Okechukwu.
Okechukwu and her team surveyed 452 workers, mostly women, to investigate the link between depression and stress at home and work. Participants were asked about stressors such as financial hardships, lack of food and whether they worried about work-related issues during non-work hours. Investigators found that these stressors were double the rate in nursing home workers than other professions.
Okechukwu and her team, which released their findings earlier this week, said they hope to use this information to develop interventions aimed at improving work-family problems among nursing home workers.

Study: Depression and stress prevalent in low-wage earning nursing home workers - McKnight's Long Term Care News

Nursing assistant guilty of rape of a dementia patient

I read yesterday that a former certified nursing assistant was sentenced to up to eight years in prison for raping a 69-year-old woman with dementia. Jerald Sullivan was also ordered to register as a sex offender after pleading guilty Wednesday in Berkshire Superior Court. Prosecutors say Sullivan sexually assaulted the elder woman in January 2011 while working at the Hillcrest Commons nursing facility in Pittsfield. The judge called the elder crime "reprehensible." I don't know the facts of this case but from the article ot looks like the Judge 'got it right'. I have seen Judges at criminal sentencing of abusive and assaultive nurse aides take a much more lenient approach leaving the distressed families and victims with no recourse other than the civil justice system a la the O.J. Simpson victims.

A nurse aid at a Kindred nursing facility in Massachusetts escaped any jail time even after admitting to assaulting 4 helpless dementia residents. Two subsequent civil nursing home abuse actions provided some measure of justice for the victims families but only after a protracted and hard fought battle to bring Kindred to Justice.

Federal and State Laws specifically prohibit any type of assault upon elders in nursing homes, but it takes a judge or jury to bring these laws to life.

Nursing assistant pleads guilty to raping a patient with dementia at Pittsfield nursing home | The Republic

http://www.berkshireeagle.com/local/ci_19677553

More Nursing Home Residents going home

Forty-three states have received federal funding to help transfer Medicaid beneficiaries from nursing homes to their communities, a new analysis finds.
The Money Follows the Person demonstration program, which was started five years ago and was expanded under the Affordable Care Act, had successfully transferred a total of 17,000 nursing home residents back into their communities as of Aug. 11, 2011, according to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation's Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured.

More Medicaid beneficiaries are undergoing nursing home-to-community transfers, report finds - McKnight's Long Term Care News

Nursing Home Population to Expand

According to an article in hivehealthmedia.com,
there are 3.8 million nursing home residents over the age of 65 , and the senior citizen population will increase  to over 72 million by 2030.

This means nursing homes will see over 5 million patients in 2020 and 6.6 million in 2030. With medical advances it is likely  that nursing home populations will be bigger.

http://www.hivehealthmedia.com/nursing-home-abuse-grow-future/

The Nursing Home Exodus

When Edwin Murphy was 91 he was transferred to a local nursing home for rehab and he developed pressure ulcers on both hips. He wanted to go home . Unlike some nursing home residents, he still had a home.
He didn't feel he could enjoy life being "institutionalized.” Moving disabled people out of nursing homes back into the community has become a focus for Medicaid, which now is shifting its priorities to spending more long-term care dollars on community services and less on institutions such as nursing homes.
To that end, every person admitted to a nursing home now is asked The Question: “Do you want to talk to someone about the possibility of returning to the community?” The Question is posed quarterly thereafter.

The Nursing Home Exodus, Part 2 - NYTimes.com

Investigation uncovers nursing home abuse in...

A Toronto newspaper investigation into nursing home inspections uncovered numerous incidents of poor nursing home care in Waterloo Region and cited four facilities in cases of abuse.
The Toronto Star discovered hundreds of cases of neglect and abuse of seniors while examining more than 1,500 inspection reports for long-term care homes across Ontario since the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care introduced a new inspection system about a year ago.
Inspections are done in response to complaints of poor care or the home’s reporting of an incident such as an alleged assault. The story was carried in Thursday’s Waterloo Region Record.
The newspaper report sparked action at Queen’s Park, with Health Minister Deb Matthews convening an emergency meeting Friday to find out why long-term care facilities are still not following rules on the reporting of abuse and neglect. At the meeting will be the Ontario Long Term Care Association representing two-thirds of Ontario’s 627 homes and several groups representing family and resident councils in homes.
The focus of the Thursday story was a 71-year-old woman with dementia, who is allged to have been sexually assaulted in her room by a facility staff member, who is now facing charges. Premier Dalton McGuinty responded to story saying there is “clearly more work to do” on the issue of protecting seniors. “I heard about this horrific incident and my heart goes out to the woman involved, her family and friends,” McGuinty said.
Locally, the investigation revealed 46 inspection reports of worrisome incidents in long-term care facilities in Waterloo Region and Wellington County. Six nursing homes were cited regarding reports of abuse, either by staff on resident or resident on resident.
TheRecord - Provincial investigation uncovers reported abuse in...

man charged in neglect-related death

Authorites on Wednesday charged an Independence man with criminal involuntary manslaughter in the Nov. 1 death of his disabled mother, who died from complications of neglect. Prosecutors allege that James E. Owens failed to provide adequate “nourishment, hygiene and medical care” to his 74-year-old mother. An autopsy determined that Carol F. Brown died from complications of “infected decubitus ulcers and sepsis” due to neglect. Owens, 52, told detectives that he did not feed his mother or summon medical help after he thought she had suffered a stroke because she had said she wanted to die at home, according to a police affidavit filed in Jackson County Circuit Court. At the hospital, a maggot was removed from an open wound on one of Brown’s legs, according to court documents.
Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/12/21/3331992/independence-man-charged-in-mothers.html#storylink=cpy
Independence man charged in mother’s neglect-related death - KansasCity.com

New Mat may prevent Pressure Sores

People permanently confined to bed can develop bed sores. New smart cushioning is intended to eliminate the discomforts of lying and sitting. An integrated sensor system equalizes pressure selectively.

Anyone confined to a wheelchair or a bed has to deal with numerous complications. Frequently, they suffer from bedsores or decubitus ulcers as physicians call them. Bony prominences, such as the sacrum, coccyx and ischium, are especially endangered spots. Unrelieved pressure can lead to tissue necrosis. Damage can extend into the periosteum and, at the worst, into bones themselves. The ulcers are entryways for germs, which can trigger sepsis.

While hitherto available passive aids such as air, gel or vacuum cushions relieve pressure, they do not relieve the affected area optimally. Some patients are also unable to actively control the distribution of pressure and alleviate their own suffering. They are dependent on others for help. Personal care assistants or family caregivers must constantly keep an eye out for the formation of pressure ulcers.

A newly developed sensor mat will take over this job in the future and thus prevent tissue damage: researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Factory Operation and Automation IFF in Magdeburg are endowing textile cushions with the capability to “feel” by outfitting them with smart sensor systems.
 http://www.rdmag.com/News/2011/12/Life-Science-Test-Measurement-Sensor-Mat-helps-prevent-bed-sores/

Nurse Aide CNA - guilty in Cleveland nursing home abuse

A Cleveland nursing assistant CNA has pleaded guilty in the nursing home abuse of an Alzheimer's patient whose son recorded the mistreatment on a video camera hidden in an air purifier in the woman's room.
Maria Karban, 26, of Cleveland pleaded guilty to misdemeanor criminal assault on an elder Thursday in Cuyahoga County and faces up to six months in jail. Her attorney declined comment until the sentencing next month.
Karban and another nursing aide are accused of abusing Esther Piskor, 78, between April 8 and May 15 at a at MetroHealth Medical Center facility.
Virgen Caraballo, 45, of Cleveland pleaded guilty last month to seven felony counts of patient abuse or neglect and also is to be sentenced in January.
MetroHealth has fired the women and two other employees.
Woman pleads guilty in Cleveland nursing home abuse

Nursing Home Resident killed in California

Authorities say an 81-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder for allegedly beating to death his 94-year-old nursing home roommate at an Orange County nursing home. According to police, William McDougall allegedly took a bar used to hang clothes from a closet, and used it to repeatedly strike his roommate, Manh Ban Nguyen, about the head.

Detectives are still investigating a possible motive for the nursing home assault, which occurred at Palm Terrace Healthcare Center, a 99-bed residential facility in Laguna Hills. Nguyen, who was found beaten around the head, was pronounced dead at Saddleback Memorial Medical Center.
The report does not say whether either man suffered from alzheimers or had a past record of mental illness or felony.
http://www.newser.com/story/102052/94-year-old-beaten-to-death-in-nursing-home.html