At a hearing this month concerning the state of the nursing home industry 20 years after the landmark Nursing Home Reform Act (better known as OBRA ‘87), Senate Special Committee on Aging Chairman Herb Kohl (D-WI) addressed the deficiencies of a system that has allowed some poorly performing nursing homes to escape penalties. Testimony by the
I saw this story and thought of all the residents who suffered pain as a result of his intentional act. This is why supervision of nursing home employees is crucial. A 40-year-old nurse who pleaded guilty to switching out painkillers meant for nursing home patients has been sentenced to just over five years in prison.
I just read this article about staffing at night in hospitals. It starts and ends with a particular incident at the Medical University of South Carolina’s children’s hospital. This is a truly terrifying account of the lack of staffing in hospitals on night shift. Now take this same idea of less staffing to a nursing home setting.
State and national organizations pushing for nursing home reform say life-threatening problems in facilities for the elderly usually are linked to inadequate staffing. Nursing home residents have their needs ignored because staffers are overworked, according to top officials with the National Citizens’ Coalition for Nursing Home Reform in Washington, D.C., and Kentuckians for Nursing Home Reform,
I recently read an interesting article about CNAs in nursing homes. CNAs change adult diapers, clean soiled residents and help the elderly dress, eat and shower among other duties. Unfortunately, these employees who handle so much of the daily, essential care needed by nursing home residents are underpaid. The article states that the average pay
Rat dies in mouth of California nursing home patient Staffing was so inadequate at a California senior center that a rat crawled into an Alzheimer’s patient’s mouth and died there before staff noticed, a lawsuit claims. The lawsuit alleges that Paragon Gardens Assisted Living and Memory Care Community in Mission Viejo overbooked their facility to receive