Nursing facilities that are found guilty of numerous breaches of health code and misconduct that places patients at risk of harm are often classified as special focus facilities and monitored more closely to make sure that they change their policies. Unfortunately, the changes are usually short lived and the negligent nursing homes have a way of returning to their original habits the moment they escape the scrutiny of the government agencies keeping them in check. What must be done to finally secure the wellbeing of our loved ones and to hold nursing centers to account when their actions harm other people?

How Facilities are Added and Removed from Special Focus Consideration

It is seemingly impossible for state and federal health departments to keep tabs on every single nursing home in the United States. This can be shocking when you learn that 92% of nursing homes have committed some sort of infraction since opening their doors. Most of these deficiencies are minor and can be corrected with minimal effort. However, there is a growing number of systemic abuses that can be linked to the prioritization of profit over the needs and interests of patients.

A catheter is a flexible plastic tube that nursing homes may insert into the patient’s bladder if the patient is unable to urinate by him- or herself. Perhaps a patient is immobile or has other mobility issues that would prevent them from using the bathroom. The catheter is inserted through the urethra and goes directly into the bladder. The urine then drains from the bladder into a bag.

A catheter may also be necessary if the lower part of the body is paralyzed, after surgery on the pelvis or urinary tract, if the patient has an inability to control the release of urine, or with certain medical conditions (an enlarged prostate for example).

What catheter care steps do staff members have to adhere to?

A former medical transport driver is facing criminally negligent homicide charges after a nursing home resident died in his transport. According to the New York Attorney General’s office, the driver – Juan Garcia – worked for Maeleen Ambulette Transport Inc. at the time of the accident. Mr. Garcia was transporting a resident back to the resident’s facility after the patient underwent dialysis.

When the medical transport came to a sudden stop, the resident was flung from her wheelchair. According to the attorney general’s office, Mr. Garcia admitted he had not buckled the resident’s seatbelt. While the certified nursing assistant who was also present in the ambulette asked Mr. Garcia that he drive the injured resident to the hospital, he drove to Gold Crest Care Center instead.

Unfortunately, the resident had fractured a hip and needed to undergo surgery. The patient succumbed to complications about a month later. According to Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman, even the most basic safety precautions would have prevented the accident involving this vulnerable nursing home resident. If convicted, Mr. Garcia faces up to four years in prison.

Many patients in nursing homes have declining medical conditions, in fact, that is most likely the reason they were admitted there in the first place. They may have trouble getting around, need help with daily tasks such as dressing and bathing and many other activities we take for granted when we are healthy. However, there is a big difference between these health problems and when a patient is not being properly cared for.

Fall Kills Nursing Home Patient

The debate over whether a declining medical condition was to blame for a patient’s death or whether the nursing home was responsible recently came to its conclusion in Iowa. Gene Bozarth, a resident at Danville Care Center in Iowa, fell at the home in 2009, breaking his neck, wrist and several facial bones. Gene was 85-years old and had Alzheimer’s, which was progressing, however that was not the reason he died.