Any fall that occurs to an Illinois nursing home patient could jeopardize their health and well-being. Because of that, the nursing staff must follow the resident’s Plan of Care and develop interventions to minimize the potential of falling. Unfortunately, not all nursing homes provide adequate training and ongoing monitoring of their nursing staff to ensure that these actions are being taken. Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC provide legal services to abused, injured or mistreated nursing home patients residing at Illinois facilities including Sheldon Healthcare Center.
Sheldon Healthcare Center
This Nursing Facility is a 31-certified-bed ‘for profit’ Home providing services and care to residents of Sheldon and Sheldon Township, Iroquois County, Illinois. The Medicaid/Medicare-accepted Center is located at:
170 West Concord
Sheldon, IL 60966
(815) 429-3522
As a part of the Peterson Health Care System, Sheldon Healthcare Center provides nursing care, Alzheimer’s care, memory care and the Peterson’s Pathways Rehabilitation Program.
Sheldon Nursing Home Resident Safety Concerns
Information on every nursing home in the United States can be viewed on federal and state database websites including Medicare.gov. These government regulatory agencies routinely update the list of opened investigations, safety concerns, filed complaints and health violations on facilities in the US.
Currently, Sheldon Healthcare Center maintains an overall five out of five available federal star rating in the Medicare national comparison rating system. This includes five out of five stars for quality measures, four out of five stars for health inspections and three out of five stars for staffing concerns. The Sheldon Township, Iroquois County nursing home neglect attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC reviewed various deficiencies, violations, hazards and safety concerns at this nursing home including:
- 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 07/29/2016, the state agency surveyor noted the facility’s failure to “recognize a fall is an incident and failed to follow their falls policy and assess for new interventions post-fall. These failures have the potential to affect two residents.”The deficient practice was first noted in the state investigator’s findings after reviewing a resident’s 07/16/2016 through 04/15/2016 Physician Order Sheets (POS) noting that the resident was diagnosed with a fractured spine, ruptured aortic, paraplegia, osteoporosis, neuropathy of lower extremities, peripheral vascular disease, cerebral vascular accident and a history of falls.”In addition, the resident’s 05/12/2016 Fall Risk Assessments documents that the resident “is at high risk for falls, has decreased muscle coordination, loss of balance standing and requires assistance to stand.” The resident’s MDS (Minimum Data Set) documents that the resident “does not ambulate and requires extensive physical assistance to transfer.”
The resident’s 01/20/2016 Nurses Notes revealed that the Licensed Practical Nurse had the resident “in the bathroom to check for bleeding due to daughter [asking for assistance]. When the resident started to sit back down, [the resident] didn’t get back far enough and set on the edge of the wheelchair, sliding out onto the floor.” The resident was assisted “back to the wheelchair […and stated that their] left knee gave out.”
The investigator noted that the facility’s 01/20/2016 Fall Analysis Log “does not document [the resident’s]” fall on that date. The nurse stated that “I didn’t think of it is a fall. [The resident] went to sit back down after I checked [the resident] for bleeding (hemorrhoids).” The resident “had no injury.” The nurse also stated that “this incident would not have been investigated (root cause), because I did not view this as a fall.” The resident’s 05/12/2016 Plan of Care confirms that “a root cause with the targeted intervention for [the resident’s] 01/20/2016 fall was not documented.
The state investigator noted that the actions the nursing staff and administrative the facility failed to follow their 09/03/2015 Fall Prevention Policy that reads in part:
“Report all falls during morning Quality Assurance meetings, Monday through Friday. All falls will be discussed and comments will be written on the Quality Assurance Fall Tracking Form and any new interventions will be written on the Care Plan.”
- Failure to Notify a Resident’s Physician of a Change in Their Condition Including a Decline in Their Health In a summary statement of deficiencies dated 06/17/2015, the state investigator noted the facility’s failure to “notify the physician regarding a significant weight loss for [one resident].” The deficient practice involved a resident diagnosed with a fracture of the left hip.Medical records show that the resident lost 18.79% in six months between January 2015 and June 2015. The investigator noted that “no documentation is found in [the resident’s] medical record” stating that the resident’s physician “was made aware of [the resident’s] weight loss.”
Sheldon Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers
If your loved one has been injured or harmed while residing at Sheldon Healthcare Center, call Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC now. Our Sheldon attorneys can successfully resolve your abuse, neglect or mistreatment victim case on your behalf against the Illinois nursing facility that caused your loved one harm.
We urge you to contact our Iroquois County elder abuse law office at (888) 424-5757. Schedule your appointment today to speak with one of our experienced lawyers for your free comprehensive case review. You are not required to make any upfront payment or retainer to receive immediate legal services. Our fees are paid only after we have successfully resolved your case by negotiating an out of court settlement on your behalf or win your case at trial.
Sources:
http://www.petersenhealthcare.net/sheldon/
http://bit.do/Sheldon-Healthcare-Center
http://www.idph.state.il.us/ltc/docs/SurveyResult/6008569FIK07292016.PDF
http://www.idph.state.il.us/ltc/docs/SurveyResult/6008569FIK06172015.PDF
http://www.idph.state.il.us/ltc/docs/SurveyResult/6008569FI08072013.PDF
