Great report about falls in Star-Tribune
The Star-Tribune had a series of articles based on their investigation into nursing home sin Minnesota. Although the series concentrates on records from one state, it is persuasive as to what is going on nationally. The first article "When Death comes without Dignity" discusses the investigation itself.
A Star Tribune report documents a troubling pattern in nursing homes based on death certificates. They looked for patterns that might lead to a story, such as drug overdoses or medical errors. The death certificates noticed a number of deaths related to falls by patients in nursing homes. More than 1,000 deaths related to falls in Minnesota nursing homes over the six-year period.
"As we worked on these stories these last several months, editors and reporters would literally shudder at some of the examples we had uncovered. Our minds would quickly flash forward to what would be in store for us when we grew old. Does anyone want to imagine being 90 years old, alone at night in a nursing home, struggling to get to the bathroom when no one is around to help?"
The Star-Tribune staff spent several months tracking down the families of those who had died from falls, exploring the conditions that led to an individual death, and talking to nursing homes in the hopes of explaining why so many of the elderly die in such a painful manner. One thing that became clear was how quickly the stability of a nursing home resident can change, "how one little incident can lead to the end."
The reporters also discovered some clear trouble spots: Reporters talked to nursing home aides who were at wit's end trying to keep up with the needs of their patients; to children who couldn't get a straight answer about how their parents had died, and to nursing home advocates who asked whether we just wanted them to tie up old people to make sure they don't hurt themselves. (Of
course not.) The nursing homes' internal investigations are private, and the state does not require a complete review of every death by fall.
I will blog the next couple of days regarding this series of articles.
