Posts tagged Nursing Home Abuse

• Want to Find a Good Nursing Home? Look for Non-Profits

  Dan Frith | August 06, 2009 11:25 AM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA Category: Nursing Home & Elder Abuse
  

  This story should not surprise anyone. A nursing home focused on resident care and not just making money will usually provide the best care. Canadian researchers (at McMaster University in...

• Residents Lose When Corporate America Buys Nursing Homes

  Dan Frith | March 25, 2008 6:23 AM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA Category: Nursing Home & Elder Abuse
  

  There is a disturbing trend sweeping the American landscape for nursing homes. The era of small facilities run by a single family and operating out love and concern for the frail and elderly is long gone. Today, your mother's nursing home is probably part of a 20 or 30 facility chain. The corporate owners live in another state and there primary concern is making money...not taking care of...

• Feeding Tubes Offer Little Benefit

  Dan Frith | March 21, 2008 6:56 AM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA Category: Nursing Home & Elder Abuse
  

  We often see recommendations for the use of a feeding tube (PEG tube) from Medical Directors at nursing homes for residents who have difficulty eating and swallowing. Granted, an individual cannot long survive without adequate nutrition and hydration. However, the use of a feeding tube is often used as a substitute for an insufficient number of feeding assistants or nursing aides. By...

• The Nursing Home Industry is Buying Tennessee

  Dan Frith | March 20, 2008 6:13 AM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA Category: Nursing Home & Elder Abuse
  

  Why does the state of Tennessee spend $1.2 billion for long-term care? That amount is 98 percent of the Tenncare (Tennessee's equivalent of Medicaid) budget, which ranks Tennessee last nationally in its funding mix of nursing homes versus home and community-based care, according to the TennCare Bureau. Why? Do you think money could be at the root of such spending?How did Tennessee get on the...

• FALLS

  Lauren Ellerman | March 11, 2008 11:35 AM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA Category: Nursing Home & Elder Abuse
  

  In 2 years, I have read about, or known families who have suffered the following:Loved one falls and breaks neck while in shower room, unattendedLoved one falls down two flights of stairs, while strapped into wheelchairLoved one falls while eloping from nursing home, out front door, and to the parking lotLoved one falls down back stairs of nursing home, after leaving "locked" exterior doorLoved...

• Over medicating dementia residents~!

  Lauren Ellerman | March 10, 2008 11:20 AM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA Category: Nursing Home & Elder Abuse
  

  We hear about it all the time - over medicating dementia patients. Why? To curb combative behavior? Make them easier to control? It is a sad state when an elderly person is given anti-psychotic medications, before an exam is done to determine what other problems would cause aggressive behavior.In Minnesota, nearly 8 percent of people 80 and older are given anti psychotic drugs -- six times the...

• Nursing Homes and Chemical Restraints

  Dan Frith | March 02, 2008 6:55 AM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA Category: Nursing Home & Elder Abuse
  

  Most people are familiar with physical restraints. These safety devices include bed rails, lap buddies, Geri-chairs, and wrist restraints. These devices are used to prevent injury to the resident or others. But what about "chemical restraints?" Have you ever heard of them?Chemical restraints are medications used by the nursing home to "control" active residents. They are psychotropic...

• Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act

  Dan Frith | February 25, 2008 10:24 AM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA Category: Nursing Home & Elder Abuse
  

  A controversial new law endorsed by Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley and Democrat Sen. Herb Kohl seeks to force nursing homes to provide more information about ownership and accountability. The Act would force nursing homes to file paperwork clearly stating ownership--something that has become increasingly complicated for outsiders to figure out, as private investment groups have bought up...

• CONFUSED? Ask for policies

  Lauren Ellerman | February 21, 2008 1:51 PM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA Category: Nursing Home & Elder Abuse
  

  Not sure how often the nursing home physician is supposed to come by?What about medications - is that the job of the CNA, MedTech or Nurse?Want to know who to complain to, and how to do it?ASK FOR THE FACILITY POLICIES AND PROCEDURES. Ask for all of them, and then, remind the staff of what needs to be done according to their own policies.Policies are usually pretty good - have a whole bunch of...

• Want to Rate a Nursing Home?

  Dan Frith | February 16, 2008 6:34 AM | 0 CommentsRoanoke, VA Category: Nursing Home & Elder Abuse
  

  We deal with calls all the time from ordinary people who do not know which nursing home is best for their loved one. We try to spend time with each caller and provide a checklist of items to consider. Those important items include: 1. Staffing ratios - does the nursing home have enough nurses and aids to take care of its residents? 2. What is the facility's history of violations of health...