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3 Dangerous Nursing Home Practices


A recent newspaper article about a Wisconsin nursing home points out the dangers that exist in nursing homes throughout the country and in Florida. The Wisconsin nursing home was cited for extensive violations of the state and federal regulations related to quality of care.

In Florida, THE AGENCY FOR HEALTHCARE ADMINISTRATION inspects nursing homes annually and issues a report. These reports are available on line for anyone to review.
The Wisconsin nursing home was faulted for the following dangerous practices. Anyone considering a specific nursing home would be well advised to ask the Director of Nursing and the Nursing Home Administrator about some of these issues.

1. The nursing home was criticized for not properly supervising a resident who left the facility, walked across a very dangerous high traffic highway. Because of mental status problems he peeked in to windows of nearby homes and was later arrested. Despite the fact he was in jail, the nursing staff continued to document they checked on him every 15 minutes.

Thus it is extremely important to be sure your nursing home has sufficient staff to actually supervise a resident who is at risk for leaving a facility.

Unfortunately, in our nursing abuse practice we have seen far too many instances of care being documented when it was clear no care was provided. For example, we have seen certified nursing assistants document care when a resident was either dead or at a hospital.

2. The Wisconsin nursing home was also cited for not appropriately supervising residents who were at risk for falls. One of the residents broke a jaw and another suffered serious injury to an eye.

Because of the frail condition of many nursing home residents, falls are an extreme risk. Therefore, nursing homes have an obligation to properly assess the risk of falling of a particular resident and then provide supervision appropriate to that risk.

Physical therapists at the nursing homes often document that a particular resident needs supervision of one or two people while walking. Frequently, the resident is allowed to walk without assistance. Sometimes this happens because the nursing home just does not have enough staff to be with each resident as necessary.

3. The Wisconsin nursing home was also criticized for not adequately assessing and treating pain. Federal regulations require that healthcare providers adequately assess the pain level for each nursing home resident and provide appropriate intervention.

With the advances in pain management, nursing homes have the tools they need to prevent pain. However, if the assessments are not done frequently and with skill, residents can be in very substantial unnecessary pain.

Therefore, we recommend you talk to the director of nursing at your nursing home and ask for examples of what the nursing home does to make sure residents are assessed often enough for pain and that the interventions will be adequate.

















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