Showing posts with label Elder Abuse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elder Abuse. Show all posts

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Alzheimers Disease, #Dementia & #Senility Resources, (#Bedside #Nursing) #Patient #healthcare #nursefriendly

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Alzheimers Disease, #Dementia & #Senility Resources, (#Bedside #Nursing) #Patient #healthcare #nursefriendly

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Friday, November 4, 2011

#Elderly #Patient Repeatedly Injured In #NursingHome "Accidents." #Negligence, Coincidence? http://bit.ly/sFOyRe #nursefriendly

See also: Medical, Legal Nurse Consultants, Clinical Nursing Case of the Week, Clinical Charting and Documentation, Nurses Notes, Courtrooms, Disability, Discrimination, Employment, Expert Witnesses, Informed Consent, Medical Malpractice, Nursing Practice Acts, Pensions, Search Engines, Torts and Personal Injury, Unemployment, Workers Compensation, Workplace Safety:

Each week a case will be reviewed and supplemented with clinical and legal resources from the web. Attorneys, Legal Nurse Consultants and nursing professionals are welcome to submit relevant articles. Please contact us if you'd like to reproduce our material.

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Summary:  As the elderly population continues to increase, more and more families are faced with the decision to place loved ones in nursing homes.  When a family member is placed in a facility, a certain standard of care is expected.  In this case, a resident was injured repeatedly while under their care.  When the patient died a few days after being "dropped" the family sued.

The patient was a 95 year old woman who was placed in a Missouri nursing home when the family was no longer able to care for her needs.

"Approximately 1.5 million people live in the nation's 17,000 nursing care facilities. . .The typical nursing home resident is a woman in her 80s displaying a mild form of memory loss and dementia. Although physically healthy for a woman her age, she needs help with approximately 4 of 5 activities of daily living (eating, transferring, toiletting, dressing, and bathing)."2

During her admission the patient would sustain  multiple injuries over the course of her stay.  In 1993, on two occasions, the patient's legs were broken with fractures diagnosed.  Each time the patient was transferred to the hospital for treatment and then returned to the nursing home.

Each time the documentation would show that the family had been "made aware."  This was reflected in incident reports that had been filed.  The incident reports did not specify which family members had been notified.

A third injury took place in 1995 when the patient was being transferred from her bed.  Documentation of the incident stated that the patient had been "dropped" during a transfer.  The charted notes documented that a head injury was sustained and that family members were notified.

The patient was again transferred to the hospital and was evaluated in the Emergency Department.  Interestingly, when examined by a physician, the day after the incident, the physician stated that there was no evidence of head injury.  Five days following this examination, the patient died.

The family would sue the nursing home.  They would allege that standards of care had not been met.  They would accuse the nursing home of rendering negligent care.

It is no secret that nursing home abuse occurs.  It can take many different forms and have devastating consequences on residents and their families.

"The United States Department of Health and Human Services researchers identified seven categories of abuse. Ninety-five percent of those surveyed said they felt that all seven are problems for nursing home residents:

Physical abuse --infliction of physical pain or injury.

Misuse of restraints --chemical or physical control of a resident beyond physician's order or outside accepted medical practice.

Verbal/emotional abuse --infliction of mental or emotional suffering.

Physical neglect --disregard for the necessities of daily living.

Medical neglect --lack of care for existing medical problems.

Verbal/emotional neglect --creating situations harmful to the resident's self-esteem.

Personal property abuse --illegal or improper use of a resident's property for personal gain."3

The basis of the family's lawsuit centered on the assumption that a certain standard of care, and a "duty" is owed to nursing home residents.   This duty it was assumed, included safe living conditions, freedom from harm and timely medical treatment.  They alleged that these standards had not been observed by the nursing home.

In the initial trial, a review of the charting and documentation showed that in each "incident," facility protocols had been followed.  Upon discovery of the injuries, medical treatment and family notification had been provided.

The Defense moved to have the charges dismissed.  The court agreed.

The family appealed.

Questions to be answered.

1. Was there clear evidence of either neglect or abuse on the part of the nursing home staff in either of the three documented incidents of injury?

2. Had standards of care been met in regard to treating an injured patient and providing safe and reasonable care.

Chiefly due to the timely documentation of the incidents, the records were used to demonstrate adequate care being given.

The family's lawsuit chiefly targeted the "handling" of the incidents rather than the "cause" of injury.  The documented interventions and notifications on the part of the nursing staff provided sufficient proof that standards were upheld.

It is common knowledge that documented nurses' notes and the medical chart are legal records.  They should be written and treated at all times as if a jury will later examine them.

Had the incident not been documented as thoroughly or had incident reports not been filled out, it might have been a different story.  It was the clear and concise charting of the nursing homes staff's handling of the incidents that saved the facility from a potentially costly lawsuit and trial.

This was particularly evident when the family accused the nursing home staff of "failure to notify" the family members.  As long as efforts were documented in the notes to notify the family, the facility was covered.

It is a bit strange that the specifics as to "who" was notified was not included in the chart.  Under a different set of opinions, this could easily be interpreted as a "red flag."  In this case it was not.

This documentation of  "notification" could have been seen as the nursing home staff charting to cover themselves regardless of whether a family member had been contacted.

To minimize suspicions of impropriety it is suggested that when a family member is contacted, the name and phone number also be documented.  All evidence is subject to interpretation.  This can be applied to physician notification as well.

When a patient has an attending, consulting physicians and residents responsible for their care, "MD made aware" leaves much room for debate as to who was notified.  If the name of the physician is noted, the guesswork is removed and accountability easier to establish.

What was not addressed in this case was the nature of the "accidental" injuries.  It is not difficult to imagine a 95-year-old patient falling as she tries to get out of bed.  It is common for patients to fall on their way to or from the bathroom.  The pertinent question is "could the injuries have been avoided."

It is clear from published studies that indeed many can be.

""We found that neither complaint investigations nor enforcement practices are being used effectively to assure adequate care for Nursing Homes residents and the prevention of nursing home abuse and neglect. As a result, allegations or incidents of serious problems, such as inadequate prevention of pressure sores, failure to prevent accidents, and failure to assess residents' needs and provide appropriate care, often go uninvestigated and uncorrected."4

Lawsuits against nursing homes are common and on the rise.  If you are working in a nursing home, you need to be aware that you are responsible for documenting adequate care.  You are equally responsible for prevention.  If a dangerous condition or "accident waiting to happen" is identified, steps must be taken and documented to correct it.

If a patient is at risk for falling they may refuse to call for assistance.  If they try to get out of bed anyway, it should be documented that the patient was instructed to "call for assistance," and did not.

If a patient is clearly a danger to himself or herself and others, restraints may be indicated.  The family or the physician may refuse to allow or write an order for them.  The nurse must document that the need for them was communicated, to whom and the response.

Even with adequate care being given accidents can happen with legal consequences.  Nursing homes are currently the focus of intense governmental supervision and regulation.  The effectiveness of the regulation is debatable.  There are many that feel that the only "solution" to correcting problems are legal actions against nursing homes.

If this approach is to be paralleled to eliminating medical malpractice, a solution may be a long way off.  What can be anticipated is increased pressure from the government, from consumers and the courts.  This will result in increased litigation and increased pressure on nursing home staff and facilities.  Each member of the nursing staff would be wise to document carefully daily care and especially incidents that result in injury.

Related Case Studies:

June 13, 1999: Felony Child Abuse Conviction, Made Possible Thanks to Nurse's Documentation.
State v. Gillard, 936 S.W. 2d 194 - MO (1999).
http://www.nursefriendly.com/nursing/clinical.cases/061399.htm

June 6, 1999: Emergency Department Nurse Verbally Abused, Physician History Well Documented
Gordon v. Lewiston Hospital, 714 A.2d 539 - PA (1998)
http://www.nursefriendly.com/nursing/clinical.cases/060699.htm

May 30, 1999: Patient Left Unrestrained, Patient Injured. Nurses Judgement Call
Gerard v. Sacred Heart Medical Center - 937 P. 2d 1104 (1997)
http://www.nursefriendly.com/nursing/clinical.cases/053099.htm

Related Link Sections:

Abuse:
http://www.nursefriendly.com/nursing/directpatientcare/abuse.htm

Clinical Charting and Documentation, Nurses Notes:
http://www.nursefriendly.com/nursing/linksections/directpatientcarelinks.htm

Emergency Department Nurses on the Nurse Friendly:
http://www.nursefriendly.com/nursing/directory/spec/ed.html

Ethics:
http://www.nursefriendly.com/nursing/directpatientcare/ethics.htm

Head Injuries:
http://www.nursefriendly.com/nursing/directpatientcare/head.injuries.htm

Mechanical & Physical Restraints:
http://www.nursefriendly.com/nursing/directpatientcare/mechanical.physical.re...

Medical Legal Consulting Nurse Entrepreneurs:
http://www.nursefriendly.com/nursing/ymedlegal.htm

Nursing Homes, Long Term Care Links:
http://www.nursefriendly.com/nursing/nursing.homes.long.term.care.htm
 

Sources:

1. 40 RRNL 1 (June 1999)

2. American Health Care Association.  September 1998. Profile: Nursing Facility Resident: Retrieved June 27, 1999 from the World Wide Web:  http://www.ahca.org/secure/nfres.htm

3. Seniors-Site.  No date given.  Nursing Home Abuses to Senior Citizens.   Retrieved June 27, 1999 from the World Wide Web: http://seniors-site.com/nursing/abuses.html

4. United States Senate.  March '99. Excerpts from Committee On Aging Hearings.  Retrieved June 27, 1999 from the World Wide Web: http://www.jeffdanger.com/

The Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or Internet Street Address of this page is
http://www.nursefriendly.com/nursing/clinical.cases/062799.htm

Send comments and mail to Andrew Lopez, RN

Created on Saturday May 23, 1999

Last updated by Andrew Lopez, RN on Saturday, September 17, 2011

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Andrew Lopez, RN
Nursefriendly, Inc. A New Jersey Corporation.
38 Tattersall Drive, Mantua New Jersey 08051
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Jocularity.com (Former home to the Journal of Nursing Jocularity (JNJ)):"Nursing & Medical Humor. Find hundreds of jokes and links to sites that will make you smile. Therapeutic Humor Associations, Battle of the Sexes, Bedside Nursing Humor, Brain Teasers, Clowning, Clowns, Therapeutic Humor & Comedy Links, Dental Humor, Emergency Department Humor, General Nursing Humor, Geriatrics, Senior Citizen, etc."
http://www.jocularity.com

Legalnursingconsultant.com:"This website is intended to be a resource for Legal Nurse Consultants, Attorneys looking to use their services, and nurses looking to enter the field of Legal Nurse Consulting. On our site you'll find a directory of LNCs by state and specialty."
http://www.legalnursingconsultant.com

Nursefriendly.com:"Nationwide Nursing Resources: In this Nursing Portal you'll find information on Nursing Jobs, Nursing Schools, Nurse Degrees, LPNs, RNs, APNs, Nursing Associations and much more."
http://www.nursefriendly.com

Nursinga2z.com:"It is our intent for this Alphabetical, A to Z index to be a comprehensive listing (In Progress) of Nursing-related resources on the Internet. It is indexed by Google and fully searchable."
http://www.nursinga2z.com

Nursingdiabetics.com:"Welcome to NursingDiabetics.com. Here you will find information on all aspects of Diabetes, a disease that afflicts millions of people world wide. I'll be adding pages as fast as I can research the information so remember to bookmark this page and return."
http://www.nursingdiabetics.com

Nursingdiscussions.com:"This website will be a portal to Nursing Discussion boards throughout the Web. If your site has a discussion board we don't have listed here, please contact us."
http://www.nursingdiscussions.com

Nursingentrepreneurs.com:"Nationwide Nursing resource to nurse entrepreneurs looking to nework and start home based businesses. On it you will find links to small and large business related resources."
http://www.nursingentrepreneurs.com

Nursinghumor.com:"Nursing & Medical Humor. Find hundreds of jokes and links to sites that will make you smile. Therapeutic Humor Associations, Battle of the Sexes, Bedside Nursing Humor, Brain Teasers, Clowning, Clowns, Therapeutic Humor & Comedy Links, Dental Humor, Emergency Department Humor, General Nursing Humor, Geriatrics, Senior Citizen, etc."
http://www.nursinghumor.com

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Monday, June 20, 2011

Most Baby Boomers are Unprepared to Care For Aging Parents | The Intentional Caregiver

Yesterday, I was fortunate to be able to interview Mr. Jeff Huber, President of Home Instead Senior Care, the largest provider of in-home care services for seniors in the world and was the first company to offer franchise opportunities.

Most professionals involved with eldercare are aware that adult children are not prepared to care for their parents when they receive “that call” that throws them into the caregiving role.  But the Home Instead Senior Care network  wanted to learn more about that and so in conjunction with The Boomer Project, a study of 600 baby boomer aged adults was conducted. 

The results surprised me:

  • Less than 50% were knowledgeable about their parents’ medical history
  •  49% were unable to name any of their parents’ current medications
  • More than 30% did not know just how many medications their parent(s) was taking
via takingcareofthefolks.com

Thank you Shelley for bringing attention to this critical topic. It is a phone call we will each be getting eventually. It is much better to be prepared.

Click on the "VIA" link to read the full article.

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Friday, April 15, 2011

Q&A When Looking for an Elder Law Attorney

Ask lots of questions before selecting an Elder Law or Special Needs Law attorney. You don't want to end up spending time and resources with an attorney who can't help you. Start with an initial phone or email correspondence. You may speak with a secretary, receptionist or office manager during the initial call or before you actually meet with the attorney. If so, ask this individual pertinent questions regarding the attorney's practice. Suggested questions are provided below

  • How long has the attorney been in practice?
  • Does his/her practice focus on a particular area of law?
  • How long has he/she focused on the particular area of law?
  • What percentage of his/her practice is devoted to Elder Law or Special Needs Law? 
  • Is there a fee for the first consultation with the attorney, and if so, how much is it?
  • Given the nature of your case, what specific information/documentation should you bring to the initial consultation?
via naela.org

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Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Broken Trust of the Elderly - NYTimes.com

A recent Congressional hearing and the poignant testimony of an unexpected victim — Mickey Rooney — have helped focus new attention on the abuse and exploitation of old people. Congress should seize the moment to help repair their threadbare web of protection.

The hearing of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, as well as several recent studies, make clear that elder abuse is a growing problem that far outmatches the resources available to fight it.

One national study estimated that in the last year 14 percent of older adults had been neglected, abused or exploited. The numbers could be far higher since the sample did not include people living in institutions or those with significant mental impairments. A 2009 study on financial exploitation estimated that elderly victims lost at least $2.6 billion a year to fraud and abuse.

via nytimes.com

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Andrew Lopez, RN
Nursefriendly, Inc. A New Jersey Corporation.
38 Tattersall Drive, Mantua New Jersey 08051
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856-415-9617, (fax) 415-9618

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