Thursday, May 29th, 2008

Nursing Home Aduse is a serious crime. Most states have laws that include criminal penalties for different types of elder abuse. Often, nursing home abuse is not reported  because the individual homes do not take elderly abuse seriously. Residents are afraid they will be embarrassed, hurt or declared incapacitated if they tell.

Who to Report Abuse to

If you or someone you love has been the victim of nursing home abuse, contact legal counsel to find out what your rights are. If someone is in immediate, life-threatening danger, call 9-1-1 immediately.

If the danger is not immediate, but abuse is suspected, you must tell someone. Contact:

• A doctor

• A family member you trust

• Local adult protective services

• Long-term care ombudsman for the appropriate state

• Local police

How to Report Abuse

It is everyone’s personal responsibility to report any suspected case of elderly abuse to the authorities. When making a call to report nursing home or senior living abuse, you should be ready to give the elder’s name, address, contact information and details about your concerns.

Some questions you may need to answer include:

• Does the elderly person have any known medical problems?

• What kinds of family or other social support system does the elderly person have?

• Have you witnessed any incidents of hitting, yelling or other abusive behavior?
If you are reporting abuse but are not related to the victim, calling a nursing home abuse hotline is your smartest choice. Each state has organizations that monitor these hotlines and can offer help.

If you are making a formal complaint against a nursing home or specific staff member, you should find a sitter to monitor them in your absence or remove them from the nursing home right away.
 

Thursday, May 29th, 2008

An inquiry into acute care in New South Wales public hospitals is claiming elderly patients are being pressured into accepting nursing home beds even though they may not be suitable for the nursing home.

A social worker at Blacktown Hospital, Claudia Graham, has told the inquiry many elderly patients are discharged from hospital too quickly.

Ms Graham says families are often forced to place their loved ones in unsuitable aged care facilities because of pressure from the hospital to make beds available for other patients.

She says she often witnesses a rapid deterioration in elderly patients who have been told they will have to go into a nursing home.

Ms Graham wants to see a change of emphasis from patient flow to patient care.

She has told the inquiry more transitional care beds should be made available to allow time to find suitable nursing homes for patients.

The inquiry is taking evidence today at Sydney’s Westmead Hospital.

Thursday, May 29th, 2008

A jury Thursday awarded $1 million in punitive damages to the family of a 104-year-old woman who died after a short stay at Villa Valencia Nursing Home in Laguna Hills.

The judgment against the center’s owner, Virginia-based Sunrise Senior Living, comes two days after the same Orange County Superior Court panel rendered a separate $1 million verdict for negligence in the March 2005 death of Mary Kathleen Adams of Laguna Hills.

Sunrise Senior Living operates 440 senior homes in the U.S. and abroad – says it will appeal the decision.

The trial, which began in March, revolved around the physical decline of Adams, a retired teacher who admitted herself to the home after fracturing her leg.

Adams then developed pressure ulcers and was not given adequate treatment, such as daily skin checks, according to the lawsuit. She left the home after about two months, on Feb. 25, 2005, and died about two weeks later because of the ulcers, the lawsuit says.

Thursday, March 13th, 2008

Today at the nursing home we had Agnes, an 88 yr old woman with dementia get a hold of one of the menus for lunch. Agnes lives in the secured unit which consists of 21 other residents all living with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. We never give our residents in this community a menu because they do not understand what is is and can become very confused. Instead of a menu we offer visual choices at their mealtime. This offers them a variety and the ability to help make their own choice.

Well today Agnes got a hold of a menu early in the morning. She went though the menu and laid out a timeline for each course of the meal. She monitored the time and the menu for a short time before becoming obsessed over each of the courses and the timeline she had laid out for the day. The staff had to take the menu away because she became extremely agitated.

Taking the menu away helped calm her nerves. She couldn’t comprehend why she had the menu. There is really no clear reason why she did this today, maybe because sheloved to plan out her day and orgazine herdaily routines? Who knows. There are many reasons why she could’ve got confused. It is important to learn about the progression of the disease and how small, everyday things in our lives can be very complicated and overwhelming to an individual suffering from such a tragic disease.

—-Mary, RN. Pennsylvania.

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