Follow the Safety Rules
Scared Straight
McKnight’s had a story that scares and exploits caregivers in nursing homes. But only if they fail to follow the safety rules. The article claims that criminal charges could be coming for a nursing home supervisor working without a mask. Multiple workers told the agency that they saw the nurse working without a mask during a shift on July 24. However, she knew she had been exposed to COVID-19. She admitted she wasn’t feeling well. The staff member later tested positive for the disease. A fatal outbreak occurred at the facility.
“Someone knowingly going into a facility, not feeling well and then going maskless is reckless behavior that endangered the lives of residents and led to this tragic situation,” Mairead Painter told the Hartford Courant. Painter is an ombudsman, an advocate for the residents. An investigation by the state’s department of public health at Three Rivers Healthcare in Norwich, CT, is ongoing.
The nursing home also failed to implement safety measures to isolate and prevent the spread. The operator failed to follow emergency procedures such as isolating infected or suspected patients. Five employees and 22 residents have tested positive for the disease overall since early August.
“We are looking at all of our options to hold individuals responsible for their action,” Painter added. “I do feel that this clearly rises to the level of an elderly abuse issue.”
“The directives were pretty clear for cohorting and they just didn’t follow the appropriate procedures,” she alleged. “It’s not like they didn’t have access to information and procedures. They just didn’t do what they were supposed to do.”
Safety Rules
Follow the safety rules. They exist for everyone’s safety. Robert Redfield is the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He told a Senate hearing that masks are “the most important, powerful public health tool we have” in fighting the pandemic. “I might even go so far as to say that this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against Covid than when I take a Covid vaccine.”
Over 201,000 Americans are dead because of the pandemic. More Americans than those who died in World War I and the Vietnam War combined. Please wear a mask, wash hands, and socially distance.