Medication errors in nursing homes are recognized as a common problem, and inspectors for the state will specifically analyze the rate of mistakes when grading a facility on its care. All nursing homes are required by law to maintain a medication error rate of less than 5 percent, and there…
Many nursing home residents are unable to walk or unable to walk any significant differences. Often, they use wheelchairs and require assistance to perform basic tasks, such as going to the restroom, bathing and getting in and out of bed. Although there are accepted industry protocols for the best and…
Admission to nursing homes in Florida is increasingly coming at a great cost, not just to residents’ bank accounts, but also to their rights. Many new admissions or their family members are being “asked” to sign mandatory arbitration agreements, typically included in the mounds of other necessary paperwork completed before…
It started with a broken finger. It’s not clear how the elderly woman’s finger came to be broken, but it was clearly not treated properly. As a resident of a state-run nursing home providing around-the-clock care, that was the one thing she should have been able to count on. But…
A series of nursing home falls suffered by a patient in Minnesota foreshadowed a final, fatal fall from a wheelchair for an elderly resident last year. Now, that nursing home, located in Duluth, has been cited for neglect. According to news reports, the state health department alleges the center failed…
Four nursing home workers have been arrested and the state attorney general in New York is continuing to investigate allegations the facility actively concealed abuse and neglect of vulnerable residents. In all, there are 45 crimes listed in the indictment among the four workers, including: willful violation of health laws…
It’s been four years since a Miami Herald investigation revealed systemic problems leading to abuse, neglect and death of residents at some of the state’s more than 3,000 assisted living facilities, which serve approximately 86,00 elderly patients. That investigation prompted Florida Sen. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, to draft bill after bill…
The attorney general’s office in New Mexico has sued one of the country’s largest nursing home chains over allegations of inadequate resident care. The lawsuit asserts ultra-thin staffing levels made it a numeric impossibility for staffers to provide appropriate care to elderly and disabled patients. Preferred Care Partners Management Group…
More and more, people are learning that nursing homes are exploiting elderly residents and their loved ones through the process of forced arbitration clauses. Basically, these agreements require residents or their loved ones to sign away their right to sue in the event of negligent caregiving. Instead, the only avenue…
A 78-year-old former lawmaker in Iowa has been acquitted of criminal charges after it was alleged he had sexual contact with his wife, an Alzheimer’s patient residing at a nursing home. At issue was the prosecution’s contention that the woman lacked the capacity to consent to sexual contact. Defendant had…