South Carolina Nursing Home Blog : South Carolina Nursing Home Lawyer & Attorney : Poliakoff & Associates Law Firm : Elderly Care, Senior Care

Here are some articles on some of the types of people who are employed at nursing homes:

The Seatttle Times had an article about three employees of a nursing home being fired after nude photographs of residents were taken and shared with strangers.  Three employees of Kitsap Health & Rehabilitation Center have been fired amid allegations that they took nude cellphone pictures of residents.  Staff members said in written statements that the suspects had shown the pictures to other staff members as a joke some weeks ago.  The pictures were taken around Christmas, the suspect said. He said he has deleted all photos of residents.  Witnesses also reported seeing other photographs.

One suspect, a 41-year-old Retsil resident who is a licensed practical nurse, told Bremerton police he and the two other suspects had sent "funny" pictures of residents to each other but denied having taken inappropriate photos.

The suspect said someone — he said he didn't know who — had sent him a photo of a resident of unknown gender bending over, with naked buttocks showing. He reported deleting the image and telling the other two suspects not to send any more cellphone pictures of residents.

The other suspects are women, ages 26 and 27, both nurse aides from Bremerton. All three employees at first were suspended and later fired. The three have been reported to a medical panel for review of alleged violations.  See more information at King5 here.
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WOKV.com  had a story about  Sharon Kaiser who was accused of stealing from people in a nursing home.   She is charged with grand theft, exploiting the elderly, suspicion of fraudulent use of credit cards, petit theft,  bank fraud, and fraudulent use of personal identification information.. Police say the woman was stealing blank checks from the residents and then giving them to other people to be cashed.

Kaiser worked at the Cypress Village retirement community.  "We were assured by Dr. Felix that it was a safe environment, that all employees had a background check," said Jack Slaughter, whose mother was a resident. He said she lost thousands in jewelry.

The police reports said one elderly resident reported that someone stole a $5,000, a 14-karat charm bracelet, and a $2,500 ring from her. Another victim reported having a $1,600 necklace and an $1,800 gold chain swiped.

Some victims in the report said this problem is widespread. In the one report, a victim claims "there has been around 90 items stolen from different patients from Cypress Village." Police arrested Kaiser after police reported linking jewelry found at pawn shops to her.

"We went to the authorities at Cypress Village and informed them of what my mom was telling us, and we were led to believe that it could be paranoia brought on by her Alzheimer's disease," Slaughter said.  See News4Jax for more information.
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KTVB.com had a story about Eric Machigashira who is accused of stealing narcotic pain medication from resdients of the nursing home where he worked. They say management provided evidence that he had been taking morphine and other drugs from nursing home patients and from the home's emergency supplies over a period of several months.

 

 

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Argus Leader had an interesting article written by Anna Bahney about a new invention that may help wheel chair bound residents.   Greg Johnson designed the wheel-chair to help his parents. Glenice Johnson spends her day in a wheelchair that her son developed, and Greg has turned over the wheelchair to a group of South Dakotans who work to find others who could benefit the way his mom has.

The chair, called the Dignity200, is the first wheelchair on the market that allows what the makers call "self-toileting."  The user pushes a lever that drops a center panel from the seat. The person backs the chair over the commode, readjusts clothing and urinates or allows for a bowel movement as if sitting on a toilet seat. Once clean, and after adjusting clothing, the user moves the chair away from the commode and the panel is returned to place.

"If I'm here by myself, I can take care of what I need to," Glenice said. "Mentally and emotionally, it is a tremendous plus. It makes all the difference in me being at home."

The adjustable, custom-built chair, available at Kreisers medical supply store in Sioux Falls and a growing number of similar stores, costs $2,950.   It is an expensive chair, Greg admits. But chair effectively pays for itself every three weeks, considering that a month's stay in a long-term care facility can run at least $5,000.

But the greatest benefit might be a wheelchair-bound person staying home as long as possible.

Greg said he was able to figure out how to remove the understructure from beneath the wheelchair but couldn't work out the drop-down panel.  He called up a rancher friend with a background in engineering to pick his brain.   Together, they began to work on prototypes. The hardest part, Greg said, was "making sure the seat cushion would be of a quality that allows her to stay in the seat all day. If that didn't work, it wouldn't be possible."

The Dignity200 now is approved by the Federal Drug Administration and is in testing for applications outside the home. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, health care workers who routinely lift and move patients have a higher risk of injuries than workers in most other occupations, and the number of those injuries are increasing.

In September, the chair became part of a risk prevention study overseen by the University of South Dakota medical school in partnership with the Good Samaritan Society.

"The lifting and transferring from chair to commode and so forth for residents whose conditions tend to be frail, that's a significant issue and a significant source of injury to residents and staff," said Bill Kubat, vice president for resident community and quality service at the Good Samaritan Society.

A trial of the chairs at a Good Samaritan facility helped the chair get where it is now. Stories emerged, including staff who felt the chair made their work safer and a woman who had not used the bathroom on her own for four years and cried when the chair had to be returned at the end of the trial.

But the longest test case has been Greg's mom, who has been in the chair for two years.

"For my mom, she can feel like she's on her own a little more again," Greg said. "And my dad doesn't have to be home. He's got a lot more freedom and he's doing a lot less lifting. It has changed their life."

 

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The PressRepublican.com had a story about a nursing home employee who took and shared private inappropriate photos of residents in his care.  Shane Spooner has been ordered to jail and probation for taking sexually explicit photos of a traumatic-brain-injury patient in his care.  He was working at Clinton County Nursing Home when he took the inappropriate cell-phone picture of the 49-year-old and sent it via text message to a female co-worker.  Spooner had three prior misdemeanor convictions.  After investigating, authorities charged Spooner with second-degree unlawful surveillance and first-degree dissemination of an unlawful surveillance image.  Within two weeks of his August arrest, Spooner pleaded guilty to a reduced misdemeanor charge of attempted first-degree dissemination of an unlawful surveillance image.  He was sentenced to 45 days in County Jail for taking the picture. He was also ordered to complete three years probation and pay a $500 fine, along with a $200 surcharge.

Shane Spooner has said that he took a picture of the man's genitals for his own amusement, an act that Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has called "a disgusting example of abuse within the walls of a New York nursing home."

 

 

 

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The Times Union had an article about a nursing home failing to respond to call bells leading to residents soiling themselves and losing their dignity, or trying to get up unassisted and increasing the chances of falling.  Residents at Glendale Home were forced to wait to use the bathroom, sometimes so long that they relieved themselves in their beds or on the floor, because of a shortage of workers. The nursing home received a $20,800 federal fine.

In September 2008, six residents of the Glendale Home recounted for Health Department interviewers how they felt humiliated when no one answered their call bells for help getting to the toilet.

"We definitely had that deficiency in that period of time," said Schenectady County spokesman Joseph McQueen. He said the facility in Scotia redeployed staff to handle the workload after a study that helped determine when call-bell use was highest.  Additionally, he said, staff attended "dignity" training and the nursing home surveyed residents to ensure the bathroom problem had been addressed. No additional workers were hired.

Certified nurse aides and other employees admitted that on certain days the facility was short-staffed, sometimes to the point that residents were also not turned in their beds increasing the risk of pressure ulcers, and not bathed frequently enough.  Inspectors learned about problems encountered by one resident who had lived at the nursing home for only a month and needed the assistance of two staff members and a mechanical lift to get out of bed.

"She stated that sometimes staff would become angry with her for calling out when they were so busy and tell her she would have to wait," the inspector reported after speaking with the resident and her daughter. "She also stated that when she was waiting for help she would be in pain from the urgency of needing to void. The resident said that on several occasions she had wet herself while waiting for the staff and that she was mortified and embarrassed that she wet her bed."

The state inspectors said they observed another resident who was unclothed from the waist down as he tried to use a bed pan. The resident later said he was yelling out for someone to close the door to his room, the report said.

 

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Kristi Nelson at Knownews.com had an article about the nursing home employee who was caught taking nude pictures and videos of residents and sharing them with others.  This is a violation of the residents' privacy and dignitiy.   The unauthorized cell-phone photos and videos resulted in a state penalty for Pigeon Forge Care and Rehabilitation Center, a ban on staff members using cell phones in resident areas, and, according to state surveyors, multiple violations of at least a dozen residents' privacy and dignity.

The photos and videos were found when a cell phone was left at a local restaurant.   A restaurant worker turned on the phone in an attempt to identify its owner, recognized one of the photos of a resident and gave the phone to a family member employed at the nursing home.   That person gave the phone to the director of nursing, who turned it over to the facility's administrator after seeing the photos and videos.  Administrator Jon Bowers gave the phone to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and immediately fired the certified nursing assistant to whom the phone belonged. A second certified nursing assistant who appeared in some photos was later fired, and two others believed to be involved had earlier left the facility's employ.

The Tennessee Department of Health conducted an investigation at the nursing home.   In its report, the state determined Pigeon Forge Care and Rehabilitation Center failed to protect the residents from having unauthorized photos and videos taken - compromising their dignity, privacy and safety from abuse - and suspended admissions to the nursing home for a week.

Twelve residents appeared in 47 pictures and 27 videos, taken between July 2007 and March 2009, found on the phone. They included:

-- A photo of a male resident sitting on a shower chair, nude, with a string of beads around his neck.

-- A photo of a female resident sitting on a bed wearing only a brief and a hat, with one breast fully exposed.

-- Photos of a female resident wearing, at various times, a bib, a feathered mask, strawberry-shaped sunglasses and a wicker basket on her head.

-- A photo of a male resident lying nude on the floor.

-- Photos of a resident being fed, "wearing a bib and food running down (his) chin and neck."

-- Videos of residents being fed or attempting to feed themselves.

-- A video of a resident eating a cookie without dentures.

-- A video of a resident lying in bed with one hand down his pants.

-- A video of a resident in a wheelchair, using a broom in a motion similar to rowing a boat.

-- A video of a moaning resident in a bed being shaken by two certified nursing assistants, in an apparent attempt to get him to make a certain noise.

-- A video of the certified nursing assistant repeatedly telling a resident "I love you" and coaxing the resident to say it back.

The report states that the worker showed the photos to fellow employees.  Meanwhile, the resident council president told state investigators that residents had first complained about staff cell phone use in October 2007.

 

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The Fort Mill Times had an article about disgusting abuse of residents' rights including privacy and dignity.  Nursing home employees were taking pictures of residents on their cell phones attached songs with sexual lyrics and circulated them to other employees.  The nursing home in Lexington has been cited by state officials but no arrests have been made yet.   i do not understand how this could happen.  don't the employees have any shame at all.  

A citation issued against Bluegrass Care and Rehabilitation Center stated there was no indication the for-profit nursing home had trained staffers that using residents' pictures and/or recordings of a sexually exploitative nature were a form of abuse.  Do you really need to train them on something as simple as that.  Do they need training on simple respect and dignity.  This is outrageous.

 

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WiredPRNews.com had an article about a nursing home owner in Albuquerque, New Mexico, who was found guilty of felony abuse and neglect in connection to charges stemming from an incident on Christmas day in 2005.

Richard Gerhardt, a 76-year-old resident at the nursing home, who was recovering from a broken hip, was placed on a bed pan and left there for 24 hours. According to reports, the bedpan became imbedded in his skin, causing an open wound that became infected and resulted in his death 5 days later.

The nursing home faces a possible $5000 fine and/or exclusion from federally funded health care programs. The case is rare, and may be the first of its type to lead to a conviction. Elizabeth Staley, director of the New Mexico attorney general Elder Abuse and Medicaid Fraud Division is quoted in the report as stating, “Nursing home and care facilities are paid to provide round the clock care to those who cannot care for themselves… Protecting this population is of paramount importance to the New Mexico attorney general and similar violations will be prosecuted vigorously.”

Sentencing for the case is set for March 13.

 

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The Birmingham Mail had an interesting article about a nursing home administrator defending the care provided to residents despite the fact that 27 of her resdients died in one year!  The former manager of a Birmingham nursing home has hit back at allegations she didn’t look after residents properly.

Kathleen Smith, who ran the Maypole Nursing Home, in Kings Heath, until it was shut down by inspectors told a Nursing and Midwifery Council hearing yesterday that she adequately managed residents’ incontinence.

Defending herself, Smith, described it as not "unusual" to see residents seated with incontinence pads showing above their trousers.  But, she said: "It’s different to say you’re leaving them walk around with a pad out – that’s undignified."

Smith also dismissed claims she allowed a resident with chest problems to be inappropriately restrained in a bucket chair.  "It’s rubbish," she said, "I totally, totally disagree with that. The chair didn’t tilt back, it was a semi-recumbent chair."

Smith also refuted accusations she had allowed a resident’s nails to grow curled and yellow. "It’s absolutely ludicrous," she added.

The misconduct probe into Smith, who said she currently worked as a community psychiatric nurse, is also looking into allegations against her former Maypole nurse colleagues Carol Estelle Bushell and Mary Kathleen Casey.

Bushell, 48, of West Heath, and Casey, 70, of Harborne, have already admitted allowing drugs to be given to the wrong patients.

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Kathleen Glanville, a writer for The Oregonian, wrote an article about a $900,000 verdict for a resident who was treated ridiculously bad by a nursing home.  The jury ruled that an 86-year-old woman with Alzheimer's disease suffered a loss of dignity when Lake Oswego police forced her to the floor of her nursing home and handcuffed her.   The jury awarded more than $900,000 to the family of the late Elvera Stephan for the way she was treated the night of April 13, 2006, at The Pearl at Kruse Way in Lake Oswego.

The jury agreed that Avamere Health Services, the corporate owner of the Alzheimer's care center, had acted with malice or reckless indifference.  Stephan's children moved her into the Alzheimer's care center in early April 2006 after her husband became seriously ill and was hospitalized. Within a few days she became agitated, wandering the nursing home barefoot in her pajamas, confused and, according to her caretakers, dangerously aggressive.

The staff notified a registered nurse in another part of the nursing home, who called the woman's doctor for guidance. He said Stephan should be taken to the emergency room for evaluation and medication.  The nurse called 9-1-1 to summon an ambulance, and because she told the emergency dispatcher that the patient was extremely aggressive, Lake Oswego police responded as well.

But jurors said she didn't look dangerous on a surveillance video from the nursing home. She was gesturing with a telephone receiver but didn't try to hit anyone with it.

Two officers forced the elderly woman to the floor, where they rolled her onto her stomach and handcuffed her hands behind her back. She remained on the floor on her stomach for six minutes until paramedics put her on a stretcher and took her to the hospital, according to Kocher. She returned to The Pearl the next day, when a nurse reported that her wrists were bruised.

A state investigator found the nursing home at fault for failing to assess the woman's condition and intervene in a timely manner.   Stephan's son, James, testified that he didn't learn about what had happened to his mother for six days, when he was told by the relatives of another patient at The Pearl.

The video of the police subduing the woman was played for the jury.   Kocher had asked the jury to award Stephan's family $1 million to send a message to corporations that care for Oregon's elderly and vulnerable.

The jury agreed on $4,200 in economic damages -- the cost of Stephan's shared room for a month -- and $400,000 in noneconomic damages. The jury then awarded $500,000 in punitive damages. Under state law, 60 percent of punitive damages go to the state victims assistance fund.

 

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In many of our neglect and abuse cases, the victim is unable to testify regarding the bad care because of dementia or death.  I read an article today about a man who is competent and speaking up for his rights and the rights of others at the facility where he lives.  Mr. Crawley is a competent 48 year old man who resides at Sunrise Rehabilitation & Care in Marion, N.C.   "I am not being treated like, I feel, as a human being," said Crawley. 

Crawley became a paraplegic as a result of a car wreck in 1982. His 81-year-old father, Joe Crawley Sr., can no longer take care of him and he started living at Sunrise Rehab on Oct. 15. For the first two weeks there, the staff didn't give him a bath or shower.  "I don't know what is going on here," he said. "It seems like they make a lot of errors in simple things."

Crawley said his elderly roommate will talk incoherently and constantly yell about having to urinate, and, rather than listening to him, the staff will shut the door. With the heater running, that makes the room get hot for both Crawley and his roommate. He said he has called the nurse's station to have the door opened but is ignored.

His sister said the staff once left a feces-soiled blue pad on his wheelchair for more than two hours. His father, who visits him twice a week, found it and thought his son had had an accident. He bagged up the soiled pad and took it to the nurse's desk.  "That's an unsanitary condition and that's neglect," said Pilgrim.

Crawley said he's confined in his bed 21 hours a day.   This will increase the likelihood of developing pressure ulcers. 

Crawley added he's paying $879 a month to stay at Sunrise Rehab, which leaves him with just $30 out of his monthly disability check. He wishes he could go someplace else.

"I don't know if they think I am incoherent or lost my faculties or don't know what is going on," he said. "But I do know what is going on. I need more than anything to be transferred to a place that deals with wound care."

"They are neglecting the people," said Buckner. "That is why there is a waiting list at Autumn Care."

The official Web site for Medicare contains information about nursing homes across the nation. The site states that Sunrise Rehab had 11 health deficiencies, which are above the state and national averages. One of the deficiencies included failure to "write and use policies that forbid mistreatment, neglect and abuse of residents and theft of residents' property."  Another deficiency found on May 10 by inspectors was failure to "give professional services that meet a professional standard of quality."

In addition, inspectors found on Aug. 30 that Sunrise Rehab failed to "make sure that residents are safe from serious medication errors" and it also failed to "make sure that the nursing home area is free of dangers that cause accidents."

See full article here.

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