Archive for the 'Nursing Home Neglect' Category
Do you need an Iowa Nursing Home Lawyer or was it just an accident?
As a Cedar Rapids, Iowa nursing home negligence lawyer, I am asked fairly often how does one know if your family member in Iowa suffered from nursing home neglect, abuse, or negligence or simply from an innocent mistake or accident? You should speak to an Iowa nursing home attorney as soon as you suspect something is not right – there may be violations of state or federal law involved. You should also attempt to get copies of the records as soon as possible. With the help of a nursing home negligence attorney you can often get these medical records quickly. You may need to report the suspected abuse to the State but you should talk to a lawyer first in most situations as everything you do could become evidence at a later date. Once you have decided you have some questions that need answers, you need to make sure you seek out an attorney who understands Iowa nursing home cases and nursing home laws. Feel free to check out www.riccololaw.com or www.pressleyhenningsen.com to learn more or request our nursing home negligence guide. We have worked on nursing home negligence cases in many of Iowa’s communities including Davenport, Bettendorf, Iowa City, Coralville, Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Des Moines, Sioux City and many other smaller communities. We will gladly talk to you and try to answer your questions. If you like, you can call us toll free at 1-888- 546-6529 any time.
No commentsRegister Opinion Is Right On: Nursing Homes Must Be Held Accountable
The Des Moines Register is directly on point in calling for the assessment of meaningful fines against nursing homes that fail to follow the rules and hurt residents. This is long over due and our compliments to the editorial board for bringing the need for enforcement to the forefront.
Recently I had a family visit. They had lost their father due to a small pink area developing into raging ulcer down to the bone in a matter of 3 weeks. The State had cited the home for “potential” harm. No fine. Shameful.
Here is the article:
Step up nursing home oversight
Make fines more than slaps on wrist.
November 1, 2006
Earlier this year, the federal government withdrew its Medicare certification - a move that resulted in dozens of residents leaving. The recent inspection found more than 25 violations. Iowa’s long-term care ombudsman Jeanne Yordi said there has been a “total system failure” at the facility.
So what does a “total system failure” cost an Iowa nursing home in state fines?
One hundred bucks. Only one offense, the failure to check backgrounds of employees, earned the home a fine. A follow-up inspection is pending, according to David Werning, spokesman for the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals, which regulates nursing homes.
Then there’s USA Healthcare of Urbandale, where residents have been choked, punched, kicked and slapped by other residents who suffer from dementia. One man broke the clavicle of a fellow resident by tipping over that person’s wheelchair. He hit residents and staff with broken coat hangers and tried to stab someone with a fork. This home, which hasn’t met minimum health and safety standards, is being fined a grand total of $400. In 2004, the same home was fined $2,500 for violating the same regulations.
Four hundred dollars isn’t even a slap on the wrist, especially for a home collecting thousands of dollars a day to care for 150 residents.
Ridiculously low fines send a message that Iowa doesn’t take seriously the care of its most vulnerable people.
Unfortunately, that might be true.
The state has failed to implement reforms previously called for by the Register and patient advocates. As an example, it has not set defined staff-to-patient ratios, instead opting to follow the vague federal requirement of “sufficient” staffing.
Iowa has too few Inspections and Appeals staff to inspect nursing homes and respond to the hundreds of complaints it receives each week. Though the agency has added some investigators through additional federal dollars in recent years, the department will ask the Legislature in fiscal year ‘08 for six more full-time investigators. The Legislature should approve the funds.
Lawmakers also should increase the financial penalties for nursing-home violations, and state inspectors should slap violators with the harshest penalties possible. And finally, criminal charges - a rare occurrence now - should be pursued whenever appropriate.
It should be acknowledged that most Iowa nursing homes provide quality care. But some don’t. A message needs to be sent to all home operators and workers that this state expects the best care for our parents, grandparents and other loved ones. It’s not acceptable if they’re eating their lunches in filth or being cared for by workers who haven’t had basic health screenings.
Failing to provide the cleanest, safest conditions should earn a fine that actually stings.
The “Restraint-Free” Myth
It can be very difficult to take care of the elderly. Often they are fragile and have complicated medical needs and equally complicated medications. Many are prone to falling and susceptible to serious injury or even death if they fall. In fact, one of the leading reasons many families make the difficult choice to have a loved one place into a nursing home is because the elderly person has started falling coupled with the belief (and sales pitch) that the nursing home will help prevent falls from occurring. And then when the falls start happening and you ask what can be done - time and time again as my clients tell me – the nursing home response is that they are “restraint free”.
Baloney. No nursing home that accepts Medicare (most do) is restraint free – if they accept residents that need some type of restraint then the nursing home is required by law to be restraint appropriate and inform a Doctor and secure an order for the right restraint.
No, restraints should not be used willy-nilly or for staff convenience but when they are necessary to meet the needs of the resident they are required. Keep in mind there is a huge variety of “restraints” that are not the cruel, leather tie-downs you might be imagining. Basically anything that restricts the movement of a nursing home resident is, in most circumstances, going to be considered a restraint under the law. This means a comfortable Lazy boy in the reclined position can be a restraint, pushing a locked wheelchair up to a dining table or using a wedge cushion to prevent a resident from sliding out of a chair are restraints…etc.
Our elderly should not be subjected to death by fall because a nursing home refuses to do its job and follow the law. Restraints should be used sparingly, correctly, and in the least restrictive manner possible but sometimes they need to be used. Perhaps they would be less necessary if nursing homes were adequately staffed with properly trained workers but until the system changes stand up for your loved ones and require that they be safely seated – even if this requires the creative use of some form of restraint.
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