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The spread of infection in a nursing facility can place the health and well-being of every resident in immediate jeopardy. To avoid this, federal and state nursing home regulatory agencies enforce the procedures and policies that must be followed by every member of the nursing staff. Unfortunately, the Mattoon elder abuse attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC have handled many cases where the resident suffered an avoidable infection that led to a decline in their health or wrongful death.
Palm Terrace of Mattoon
Palm Terrace of Mattoon is a 178-certified bed for profit Petersen Health Care network-associated nursing facility providing services to residents of Mattoon and Coles County, Illinois. The Medicare/Medicaid-affiliated facility is located at:
1000 Palm
Mattoon, Illinois 61938
(217) 234-7403
In addition to offering their Pathways Rehabilitation program, Palm Terrace also offers Alzheimer’s/memory care and skilled nursing care.
Mattoon Nursing Home Resident Safety Concerns
Many families use the information that state and federal nursing home databases provide before making a decision of where to place a loved one who requires the highest level of nursing care. Because of that, the state of Illinois and the federal government routinely update the database system to reflect the most currently filed complaints, opened investigations, safety concerns, and health violations. The results of their updates can be found on numerous sites including Medicare.gov.
Currently, Palm Terrace of Mattoon maintains an overall one out of five available star rating in the national star rating summary/comparative analysis tool system. This includes four out of five stars for quality measures and one out of five stars for staffing issues and health inspections. Our Mattoon Illinois nursing home neglect attorneys have found numerous complaints and safety concerns involving this facility that include:
- Failure to Develop, Implement, and Enforce Programs that Investigate and Control Infection from Spreading
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated 03/17/2016, a notation was made by a state investigator during an annual licensure and certification survey concerning the facility's failure to "prevent potential cross contamination by failing to perform hand hygiene before and after resident care.” The failure by the nursing staff at Palm Terrace of Mattoon was first documented at 3:30 PM on 03/14/2016 while a Registered Nurse “checked [a resident’s] blood glucose using one of two, multi-use blood glucose meters located in the East Hall (Behavioral Unit) medication cart.”
The investigator noted that the Registered Nurse “did not apply gloves prior to checking [the resident’s] blood sugar level. With ungloved hands, [the Registered Nurse] laid the blood glucose meter directly on top of the medication cart with the blood-stain test strip still inserted in the meter.”
The Registered Nurse then “removed the blood stained test strip with bare ungloved hands” and then five minutes later “took the germicidal disposable wipe and wiped the top of the blood glucose meter for five seconds and disposed of the wipe into the wastebasket [but] did not unfold the germicidal disposable wipe prior to cleaning.”
The investigator noted that the Registered Nurse “did not pick up the meter from the medication cart as [they] clean the top of the meter [...and] did not clean the area where the contaminated strip was inserted [...and] did not perform hand hygiene before and after obtaining [the resident’s] blood glucose level [...and] the blood glucose meter was not visibly wet at 3:37 PM.”
Further observations the Registered Nurse performing blood glucose testing on another resident following the same procedures where the Registered Nurse failed to “perform hand hygiene before and after obtaining [that resident’s] blood glucose level.”
As a part of the investigation, the state investigator interviewed the facility’s Director of Nursing at 2:05 PM on 03/15/2016 who stated that they “expect staff to perform hand hygiene before and after resident care and to wear gloves when performing a blood glucose level. The Director also stated that “the contaminated, blood-stained test strip should not be removed with bare hands [...and that] the germicidal disposable wipe has a wet time of four minutes and needs to be visibly wet for four minutes” to ensure that all contaminants have been killed.
The investigator noted that the actions of the nursing staff at Palm Terrace of Mattoon failed to follow nursing home regulations and the facility’s 04/12/2010 Glucose Monitoring Policy and December 2008 Handwashing Policy that both read in part:
“Wash hands and apply gloves prior to obtaining a blood close level and to remove gloves, wash hands following the procedure.”
“All staff will wash hands, as washing hands is promptly and thoroughly as possible after resident contact and after contact with blood, body fluids, secretions, excretions, and equipment or articles contaminated by them.”
Mattoon Illinois Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers
If you suspect your loved one has suffered a preventable infection while residing at any nursing facility in Illinois including Palm Terrace of Mattoon, Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers LLC can take immediate legal action to stop the harm now. Our Coles County elder abuse attorneys can handle every aspect of seeking and obtaining the financial compensation your family likely deserves for the abuse and neglect of your loved one.
We encourage you to contact our Mattoon Illinois nursing home abuse law firm of (888) 424-5757 today to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation. No upfront fees are required because all personal injury cases we handle are accepted through contingency fee agreements.
https://www.petersenhealthcare.net/palm-terrace/
