Florida Personal Injury Blog - Nursing Home

Nonprofit Nursing Homes Provide Better Care

Don Greiwe — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 08:01:00 GMT

A group of doctors from around the world have came together to take a hard look at the relationship between nursing homes and profiteering, and the results reaffirm what many of us would have guessed: Nonprofit nursing homes provide better care than for-profit nursing homes.

Dr. Gordon Huyatt, the senior author of the study, stated “the reason patients' quality of care is inferior in for-profit nursing homes is that administrators must spend 10 percent to 15 percent of revenues satisfying shareholders and paying taxes,” and as a result, “For-profit providers cut corners to ensure shareholders achieve their expected return on investment.”

Looking at 82 different statistical studies taken into account, 40 significantly favored nonprofit facilities. This means that in 40 of the 82 reports, it was obvious that patients received better care at the nonprofit facilities compared to for-profit facilities. On the flip side, only 3 of those studies favored for-profit facilities. The remaining 39 studies had inconsistent findings and were not counted either way. The study looked at four major factors in determining quality of care:

More or higher quality staffing;
Lower rates of pressure ulcers;
Less use of physical restraints; and
Fewer deficiencies cited by regulatory agencies.

These findings have significant implications for patients across America. Of the roughly 80,000 patients who have bedsores, 7,000 of those can be attributed to for-profit ownership. Additionally, the study went on to predict that if all the current for-profit nursing homes converted to nonprofit, 500,000 hours a DAY would become available to residents without additional cost.

There are many ways to interpret the study data, but the overall conclusion is clear: nonprofit nursing homes offer better care than for-profit ones. These sorts of studies may be very important in the health care reform debate, as many reformers push for an increase in “evidence-based medical treatment.”

Moving forward, if you or a loved one needs the care of a nursing home, look into whether that home is for-profit or not, because it clearly should be a factor to consider.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Don Greiwe

Florida Has Weak Protection Laws for Our Seniors

Sandy Grinnell — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 10:23:09 GMT

The Orlando Sentinel has an excellent article today on the pitfalls of the state of Florida's control over who is taking care of the elderly in nursing homes, assisted living facilities and adult day care centers. Among the problems reported are:

State law requires that facilities perform criminal background check on employees just in the state of Florida, not nationwide (there are a few exceptions).
In all but nursing homes, employees can begin work before the criminal report is returned from the screening process.
The state has screening inspectors who review employee files for background checks but only get to visit nursing homes about one time per year and assisted living facilities once every two years.
Investigators have found some employees who have been on the job for seven years and still have no background check in their personnel file.

The law covering who is and who is not allowed to care for our senior citizens is finally being expanded this week. While the law has always excluded those charged in a criminal activity, the new statute also covers theft, fraud and forgery.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Sandy Grinnell

Long Term Pain In Personal Injury Cases

Joseph Bernardo — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:04:33 GMT

Trauma patients in America's hospitals are not necessarily "all better" just because they are released from the hospital. A large number of those hurt in accidents and falls and are treated at hospitals are not pain free upon their release.

62.7% of patients in hospital admissions from trauma had pain 12 months llater. The pain was characterized as moderately severe. More than half of these patients had 3 painful areas or more.

The above findings come from a study of over 3,000 patients in 69 hopitals in 14 states in the U.S. (published in the Arch Surg. 2008;143(3):282-287.)

Pain is a factor in recovery from an injury. It is also an important component of a claim for damages in a personal injury case.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Joseph Bernardo

Alleged Abuse at Pathways to Care in Casselberry

Mike Damaso — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 05:19:36 GMT

The Channel 9 Eyewitness News website is reporting allegations that an employee of Pathways to Care in Casselberry has been using illegal drugs and abusing patients. The assisted living facility worker is being accused of smoking crack cocaine on the property, stealing prescription medications, and verbally abusing residents.

Channel 9 attempted to get a statement from the head nurse at the facility but was directed to Catholic Charities. A representative from the Diocese of Orlando was unavailable for comment.

William Teague, Florida Department of Elder Affairs, was quoted,

"They've drug tested this employee in question and they've also put her on administrative leave until the disposition of the drug test comes back,"

... "

When we reviewed her file, there were documentation in there indicating she had been counseled before about the way she talked to residents or treated them."

The article reports that Pathways to Care has been investigated by the state for various complaints 17 times since it opened approximately 4 years ago, usually for releasing a patient with no where else to go - 4 times found to be in violation.

For more information on Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Mike Damaso

Nursing Home Patient Had Maggots In His Eyes

Diego Madrigal — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 06:19:11 GMT

A nursing home patient who was brought to the hospital with maggots in his eyes and an infected breathing tube died. The Attorney General's office is investigating possible neglect or abuse directed at the man. The man was a resident at University Center West in Deland when he was taken to the hospital with these horrible conditions. He was later moved to a hospital in Jacksonville where he died. It is unfortunate when incidents such as this happen. Families often think they are doing the right thing in getting their loved ones what they think is the best care possible and are heartbroken when the care does not meet a reasonable standard. That is why it is important to investigate any complaints filed against a nursing home before making the costly decision of who can best care for your loved ones. The State of Florida provides a website to help make this decision.

For more information on this subject, please refer to the section on Nursing Home and Elder Abuse.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Diego Madrigal

CNA Accused of Abusing Florida Nursing Home Resident

Chrissie Cole — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 16:58:10 GMT

A certified nursing home assistant has been taken into custody on allegations that she abused a nursing home resident at a Pensacola nursing home. She is accused of causing injuries to the face and neck of an Alzheimer's patient.

The arrest was carried out in Louisiana by the Houma Police Department, acting on behalf of the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. "This victim was suffering from Alzheimer's disease and clearly relied on support from his caretakers," said Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum. "Our senior citizens deserve a high standard of care and respect and we will continue to enforce those standards."

Witnesses say the incident occurred in the shower room of the facility. The man was holding onto a piece of equipment in the shower and began to resist her efforts to remove him. To break his grasp, she struck him.

Gamble has waived extradition and the Escambia County Sheriff's Office will be transporting her to the Escambia County Jail. She will be charged with one felony count of elder abuse. If convicted, she faces up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole

Shocking Nursing Home Abuse

Ed Normand — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 15:55:24 GMT

Right here in Central Florida we have another example of inhumane treatment at a nursing home. The list of alleged abuses is sickening:
One resident suffered with an untreated impacted bowel for three weeks until her death.
A resident with Alzheimer's fell out of bed. She called for help for an hour until she crawled to a phone and called 911. Firefighters rescued her and found the 3 nursing home on duty employees asleep.
Another resident tried to summon help herself for 3 hours but was ignored. She had to be hospitalized with a dangerously low insulin level. Investigation revealed the home did not have enough of or the right kinds of food to feed the residents, it was understaffed (even including the sleeping staff) and other residents had bedsores. These are just the tip of the iceberg of abuse and neglect in nursing homes.

In recent years tort reformers gutted what had previously been a strong nursing home resident bill of rights in Florida. The old law had teeth. It allowed for punitive damages, made nursing homes pay for attorney's fees of residents that had to sue to enforce their rights and allowed meaningful private enforcement of violations. The new law severely limits the rights of nursing home residents subject to abuse. Punitive damages are almost impossible to get, nursing homes can operate without sufficient liability insurance and, believe it or not, the elder abuse laws were amended to exclude nursing homes. Sadly, our most vulnerable are now paying the price for the meanspirited legislative revocation of rights of nursing home residents.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to the section on Medical Malpractice and Negligent Care.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Ed Normand

Girard Nursing Home Fined for Abuse

Shannon Weidemann — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 13:57:28 GMT

A nursing home in Girard, Illinois had abuse complaints lodged against it. Investigators found that the workers at Pleasant Hill Village Nursing Home was abusing residents. A fine of $25,000 was levied against the home.

A February report by the Illinois Department of Public Health indicated the incidents might have started as early as August 2006.
Aides allegedly poked one resident with a pin to keep her from getting out of her wheelchair; held an alarm next to the ear of another to keep her in bed; intentionally grabbed a resident's injured arm and asked, "Does this hurt?"; restrained one man by holding his arms behind his back and bending his fingers backward; and forced residents to shower against their will.

The nursing home is challenging the fine saying it has taken steps to remedy the situation. The state differs with that account and says the home did nothing until the police came in to investigate.

For more information on this subject matter, please refer to the section on Medical Malpractice and Negligent Care.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Shannon Weidemann

Nursing Homes May Be Reimbursed for Employee Screening

Sandy Grinnell — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 10:51:22 GMT

A bill submitted by U.S. Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) will allow Medicare and Medicaid to pay long term care facilities for the background check of applicants for hire. It also provides for a centralized database from all states from which the background checks can be made.

The Patient Safety and Abuse Prevention Act of 2007, which is supported by the American Health Care Association, would allow nursing homes to screen out applicants with a history of abuse or criminal actiivites from other states using a centralized database. Currently there is no overlap of the systems which can allow these types of individuals to work and possibly prey on one of our most vulnerable citizens, the elderly residents of nursing homes.

"AHCA's entire mission and focus is to ensure America's long term care facilities provide quality, compassionate care in a safe and secure environment for seniors and persons with disabilities - and we appreciate and support the approach put forward by Senator Kohl's legislation," stated Yarwood. "Ensuring that the most capable, honest employees are the ones caring for America's seniors is the most fundamental criterion for the provision of quality care."

The bill also will allow Medicare and Medicaid to pay for these screenings which can run anywhere from $23 to $47 per submission. With elimination of cost to the nursing homes, there is no reason for them to not run the background checks to ensure the quality of their staff.

Senator Kohl's bill would make permanent the features of a pilot program which has been running in 7 states since 2004 and prevented in 5,000 potential employees from being hired due to their criminal backgrounds.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Sandy Grinnell

Avoid Muscle Weakness Ailment That Often Leads to Nursing Home Care

Patricia Doherty — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 09:57:16 GMT

The most common reasons senior citizens require nursing home care are muscle weakness, known as sarcopenia, osteoporosis and dementia, like Alzheimer's disease. While there has been publicity on osteoporosis and dementia, Americans know very little about Sarcopenia - age related loss of muscle mass. To minimize muscle loss as you age participate in strength training, eat a healthy diet, low in fat and high in protein, keep your weight in a good range and walk 30 minutes 3 times a week.

Information shows the muscle ailment begins around 40 years old affecting 40% of people over 80 and 60% of all nursing home residents. Sarcopenia also may contribute to other health problems such as arthritis, pulmonary disease and heart failure.. The University of Florida (UF)received a grant to establish a Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center. The Center's projects will include research on sarcopenia.

As more research is done, more awareness gained and more action is taken to prevent this muscle weakness there is the hope of less need for nursing home care with resulting less expense and less potential for nursing home neglect and nursing home abuse.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Patricia Doherty