A nursing home is reworking its plan of correction after finding the original submission was unacceptable. The plan was required after a state survey followed the death of a patient. The death involved a patient who was dropped and suffered broken legs, and died just two days later.  The state has offered the facility five days to resubmit a plan of correction adequate to meet the needs of patients and correct the issues highlighted in the survey inspection report.

A nursing home incident involving a patient who as dropped and allowed to suffer to broken legs died just days after the fall. The patient was supposed to receive assistance from two caregivers, however, a nursing aide said that she could not find anyone due to short staffing. “Although [the nursing assistant] looked in a lot of resident rooms and common areas, she could not find anyone to assist her,” the report states.

A nursing home was cited for allowing a resident to fall without providing proper care for a patient at a high fall risk. The patient fell and died just 9 days later from blunt force head trauma. The citation brought a class AA level to the nursing home with a fine of $100,000.

A young nursing aide has been charged with a felony after taking a picture of a 98-year-old patient while giving her a bath. The young woman sent a photo text of the patient to her mother, boyfriend and friend of the woman while unclothed. The aide said the patient was trying to hit her.  Several employees reported the incident and the nursing home owner pressed charges along with the patient’s power-of-attorney.

Looking back at the past year, one state has experienced a high level of state health care deficiencies as a result of nursing home inspections.  Due to the deficiencies, 19 nursing homes were placed on provisional licenses with 32 fines. These numbers are double or triple the year prior.  “While some important steps have been taken,” said the state secretary of health, “there is a lot of work ahead of us if we are to achieve our goals of delivering care and protecting our seniors.” Th…

Surveillance cameras are becoming more prevalent in nursing homes as additional states legalize the placement of cameras in resident rooms. Having cameras installed in the rooms holds employees to a higher accountability for patient care. Even when nursing home caregivers do not meet the standard of care, abuse and neglect have less likelihood of going without notice.  One nursing aide found this to be true, when she abused a patient along with a coworker.