Nursing Home & Elder Abuse

• Nursing home resident suffocates

  Barry Doyle | March 29, 2007 9:38 PM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL

  A North Carolina nursing home has been fined by the state after a resdient in the facility died when she was suffocated in between her mattress and the raised bed rails of her bed. The state found that the facility was improperly using the bed rails as a means of restraint. Six other residents were found to have bed rails in place which were not ordered by a physician.There are two major risks...

• New technology in bed sore detection

  Barry Doyle | March 25, 2007 10:51 AM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL

  A recent report is touting the use of ultrasound to detect bed sores, or pressure ulcers. Bed sores are created by unrelieved pressure on bony prominences of the body such as the heels, elbows, and sacrum. Unrelieved pressure results in tissue death which in turn leads to the skin opening which permits the entry of infecting bacteria.Bed sores are enormously painful and can ultimately lead to...

• Sex offender in Peoria nursing home

  Barry Doyle | March 18, 2007 10:00 AM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL

  A Peoria nursing home which housed 6 convicted sex offenders was fined by the Illinois Department of Public Health for failing to prevent and properly monitor the actions of one of them for inappropriate behaviors towards his fellow residents. The sex offender, 56 years old, had been admitted to the nursing home for treatment of conditions relating to a stroke and mental illness.The actions...

• Chicago Ridge nursing home fined in choking death

  Barry Doyle | March 17, 2007 9:30 AM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL

  The Illinois Department of Public Health fined a Chicago Ridge Nursing Home after a resident there was served solid foods. The resident had recently received a g-tube to provide him with nutrition and was not supposed to receive solid foods. The g-tube was placed because the resident was no longer safe to swallow solid foods.The CNA on duty provided the resident with a meal tray, even though...

• Leg amputation leads to lawsuit against nursing home

  Barry Doyle | March 14, 2007 9:30 AM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL

  A Boston-area nursing home has been sued for neglect after untreated pressure sores led to the amputation of a resident's leg. The staff had advised the resident's family that the decline in their mother's health was due to her body shutting down as she was near death.After she was admitted to a hospital, the family discovered that their mother's decline in health was due to untreated pressure...

• Fire in North Carolina assisted living facility

  Barry Doyle | March 13, 2007 10:43 AM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL

  One resident was killed and several residents were injured when fire swept through a North Carolina assisted living facility. Initial reports about the incident described the fire as an explosion.Besides the fatality, several residents were taken to hospitals for burns and smoke inhalation.Assisted living facilities are similar to nursing homes but are not designed to provide the same level of...

• Nursing home cited for inadequate training of staff

  Barry Doyle | March 07, 2007 8:30 AM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL

  An Alabama nursing home was cited for inadequate staff training which resulted in a resident's death. The resident fell from a shower bed while being assisted by only one staff member when the bed required the assistance of two staff members.The resident suffered a broken neck as a result of the fall and died two days later. In addition to the citation for inadequate training, the facility was...

• Cicero nursing home cited in fall

  Barry Doyle | February 28, 2007 6:00 AM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL

  A Cicero nursing home was cited by the Illinois Department of Public Health after a resident was injured in a fall at the facility. IDPH found that the nursing home failed to make a proper assessment of the resident's fall risk and failed to update the care plan in light of additional falls the resident had at the facility before the one in which he was injured.The resident had to be...

• Director of nursing indicted for neglect

  Barry Doyle | February 24, 2007 8:00 AM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL

  The director of nursing at a Pennsylvania nursing home was indicted recently for neglect in the care of a resident. Also included in the charges were accusations of falsifying and tampering with records.The resident had a head wound which was left untreated and became infested with maggots.This story is disturbing on so many levels, the most obvious being what happened to this gentlemen.The...

• Wilmington nursing home cited for bed sores

  Barry Doyle | February 22, 2007 9:30 AM | 0 CommentsCook County, IL

  A Wilmington nursing home was cited by the Illinois Department of Public Health after a complaint was made regarding the care of the residents there. IDPH found that a doctor's order for a consultation with a wound specialist had not been carried out and the nurse hired as the wound care nurse did not have the proper training.The resident whose condition was the subject of the citation was...