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The Care Plan of many nursing home residents in Illinois include interventions to minimize the potential of falling. Although to be effective, the interventions must be followed at all times by every nurse and nurses’ aide providing care to the resident. Unfortunately, the Spring Valley elder abuse attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC have handled many cases where the resident suffered serious medical consequences from falling caused by the negligent actions of their caregivers.
Aperion Care Spring Valley
Aperion Care Spring Valley is a 98-bed for-profit Medicare/Medicaid-participating nursing facility providing services to residents of Spring Valley and Bureau County, Illinois. The Center is located at:
1300 North Greenwood St.
Spring Valley, IL 61362
(815) 664-4708
Spring Valley Nursing Home Resident Safety Concerns
many families placing a loved one in a nursing facility use the Medicare star rating summary system where the federal government and state of Illinois routinely update their databases. This historical information details all of the opened investigations, filed complaints, health violations and safety concerns of facilities nationwide.
Currently, Aperion Care Spring Valley maintains an overall one out of five available star rating compared to all other facilities in the United States. This includes one out of five stars for staffing issues, quality measures, and health inspections. Our Spring Valley nursing home neglect attorneys of found numerous violations and safety concerns involving this facility that include:
- Failure to Provide Every Resident an Environment Free of Accident Hazards and Provide Adequate Supervision to Avoid Injury
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated 12/09/2015, a state surveyor made a notation during an annual licensure and certification survey concerning the facility's failure to "correctly implement fall interventions as outlined in Fall Care Plans for [2 residents at the facility] reviewed for falls.” The state investigator noted that “this failure resulted in [the resident] falling from bed, receiving a Subdermal Hematoma, and per coroner, resulted in death.”
The state investigator reviewed the resident’s December 2015 Physician Order Sheet (POS) that documents the resident had a diagnosis of “dementia with agitation.” The resident’s 11/16/2015 Physician Progress Note revealed a “diagnosis of Increased Risk of Falls.” The resident’s 10/12/2015 MDS (Minimum Data Set) documented that the resident was “severely cognitively impaired and totally dependent on staff for ADL (activities of daily living).”
As a part of the investigation, the state investigator reviewed the resident’s 10/20/2015 Occurrence Report that stated at 9:40 AM the resident “rolled out of bed and sustained a ‘left side lip bleeding (with) hematoma to the left side of the head’.” The 10/20/2015 Emergency Department Report documented that the resident had “head contusion, blunt head injury, lip laceration [from a] fall at the nursing home.” Interventions were developed and added to the resident’s Care Plan to use “proper placement when in bed and use wedges to assist in positioning.”
On 11/28/2015, the resident’s Occurrence Report stated that at 2:10 AM the resident “fell out of bed sustaining a ‘two-inch-wide large hematoma (with) open laceration and swelling to left posterior head’.” An interview with the facility’s Director of Nursing revealed on 12/04/2015 that “when the resident fell out of bed on 11/28/2015, the bumper pads were not clipped (buckled) to begin with and that is why the bumper fell off the bed.”
The state investigator noted that the deficient practice by the nursing staff at Aperion Care Spring Valley failed to follow the facility’s undated Job Description for Certified Nursing Assistants that directs all Certified Nursing Assistant to “Follow established safety precautions when performing tasks and when using equipment.”
- Failure to Provide Every Resident an Environment Free of Unauthorized Physical Restraint
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated 08/20/2015, the state investigator noted the facility’s failure to “ensure that current physician order is in place for the use of a restraint.” In addition, the investigator noted the facility’s failure “to document and show the specific medical symptom for the use of the restraint, how it would treat the medical symptom.” There was also a failure “to release the restraint during a supervised activity as a reduction plan.”
The failure involved a resident diagnosed in part with “dementia with agitation, anxiety and frequent falls.” An observation was made at 11:00 AM on 08/19/2015 where the resident “was observed up in a wheelchair with a laptop cushion restraint in place.” It was observed that the resident was “confused and was wandering in the dining room area.”
The Certified Nursing Assistant providing care stated that the resident “uses a laptop cushion restraint because the resident would lean forward and fall [...and] has been using this restraint for a while now and that it is being released during meals, activities and during nursing care.” However, observations of the resident were made where the staff failed to release the restraint as directed in the resident’s Care Plan, in direct violation of the facility’s March 2013 Resident’s Restraint Policy.
Spring Valley Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers
If your loved one has suffered harm, injury, mistreatment or abuse while residing at any Illinois nursing facility, including Aperion Care Spring Valley, Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC can help. Our dedicated Illinois nursing home abuse attorneys can ensure your family receives the financial compensation they deserve for your loved one’s damages.
Contact our Bureau County elder abuse law firm today by calling (888) 424-5757 to schedule a no-obligation, free case evaluation. No upfront fees are required.
http://www.idph.state.il.us/ltc/docs/SurveyResult/6008783FA12092015.PDF
http://www.idph.state.il.us/ltc/docs/SurveyResult/6008783FMO08202015.PDF
