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Any spread of infection in a nursing facility could be detrimental to the health of one or more residents. Because of that, the nursing staff is required to follow strict procedures and protocols when providing care, especially to those who are infected or suffer from open wounds. Unfortunately, not all nurses and nurses’ aides follow these protocols, which is often to the detriment of the patient’s health and well-being. Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers have represented many injured residents of Illinois nursing facilities like Blessing Hospital SNU who have suffered needlessly from preventable infections or exposure to contaminants, viruses or bacteria.
Blessing Hospital Skilled Nursing Unit
This facility is a for-profit 20-certified-bed Medicare-participating Center providing nursing services to residents of Quincy and Adams County, Illinois. The nursing home is located at:
Broadway at 11th Street
Quincy, IL 62301
(217) 223-8400
Quincy Nursing Home Resident Safety Concerns
The Federal government and Illinois nursing home regulatory agencies routinely update the nursing home database system containing the complete list of all filed complaints, opened investigations, health violations, and safety concerns. This information can be found on numerous websites including Medicare.gov.
Currently, Blessing Hospital Skilled Nursing Unit maintains an overall three out of five available star rating in the Medicare star rating summary system compared to all other nursing homes nationwide. This includes four out of five stars for health inspections and one out of five stars for quality measures. The Adams County nursing home neglect attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers have found serious safety concerns at this facility that include:
- Failure to Enforce Developed Policies on Abuse and Neglect
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated 06/08/2016, a state investigator noted a deficient practice during an annual licensure and certification survey concerning the facility's failure to "notify the Administrator immediately in the facility failed to effectively educate staff at reporting abuse allegations. These failures have the potential to affect all seven residents residing in the facility.”
The deficient practice was first noted in the investigator’s findings of an event occurring at 9:20 AM on 06/07/2016 when a Student Nurse “stated that she had never been educated on Abuse and had gone through Orientation. She said she did not know who the Abuse Coordinator was but could ask her preceptor to find out.” In addition, the student nurse “was unable to identify all forms of abuse.”
In addition, the state investigator interviewed a facility’s Therapy Technician at 9:55 AM on the same morning who stated: “he did not know would report abuse to [...and] was unable to identify all forms of abuse.” A Unit Secretary was interviewed a few minutes earlier who stated “abuse was to be reported to a supervisor [… but] was unable to identify all forms of abuse.
The investigator noted that the actions of the management at Blessings Hospital Skilled Nursing Unit failed to follow the facility’s 04/20/2016 Abuse Prevention and Detection Policy that reads in part:
“Under the law and the facility’s policy, every employee is obligated to report any incident or suspicion of abuse, neglect, or theft to the Nurse Manager or (skilled nursing unit) Administrator.”
It was also noted that “the Abuse Prevention and Detection Policy also documents employees will receive abuse education upon hire and ‘on a periodic basis’.”
- Failure to Prevent the Spread of Infection
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated 04/17/2015, a notation was made during an annual licensure and certification survey by a state investigator concerning the facility's failure to "prevent cross-contamination” involving four residents at the facility.
The deficient practice was first noted in the investigator’s findings that at 10:45 AM on 04/15/2015, a registered nurse “put on gloves without washing hands and removed [a resident’s] coccyx dressing.” The Registered Nurse held the resident’s “coccyx area with the right gloved hand and check for skin blanching on [the resident’s] bare coccyx area with [their] left gloved hand.”
At that point, the Registered Nurse was observed applying “the dressing with the contaminated gloved hands and pulled up [the resident’s] sweatpants [...and] removed the gloves, pulled back the curtain and exited [the resident’s] room without performing hand hygiene.”
The state investigator interviewed the facility process Director of Nursing on the morning of 04/15/2015 who stated: “that staff would be expected to perform hand hygiene before putting on gloves, after removing gloves, while performing wound care, and upon exiting residents’ rooms.” It was noted that the actions of the caregivers fail to follow the facility’s March 2013 hand hygiene policy that reads in part:
“Hand hygiene should be performed upon entry and exit from a patient room, before and after direct contact with patients; after contact with non-intact skin and wound dressings…”
Quincy Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers
If you suspect your loved one is being abused while residing at Blessings Hospital Skilled Nursing Unit, call the Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers law offices now. Our Illinois nursing home attorneys can fight to protect your loved one’s rights and assist in seeking the financial compensation they deserve for their damages.
We urge you to contact our Adams County elder abuse law office at 888 424-5757. Schedule your appointment today to speak with one of our experienced lawyers for your free full case review. No upfront fees are necessary.
Sources:
http://bit.do/RILnursingBlessHosSNU
http://www.idph.state.il.us/ltc/docs/SurveyResult/6011977FI06082016.PDF
