A family member of a nursing home patient who suffered abuse is speaking out to create a stricter law for reporting abuse to authorities. When a woman’s mother as a patient was discharged from a nursing home to the hospital with multiple fractures and bruises, she called the local ombudsman’s office to report suspicions of abuse. The authorities however, were not involved and no criminal charges were made in the case.

Four individuals working for a nursing home chain have been indicted on 45 counts of criminal activity while acting on behalf of the company. Criminal activity involved allowing a series of incidents to occur at the nursing home facility and sexual activity of residents with dementia in the dining room while unsupervised. These incidents were a focus of 37 citations provided to the nursing home from the state department of health.

A number of nursing home employees have been caught and found guilty of stealing jewelry and other priceless items from nursing home residents. The items were sold and the money kept for themselves. One of the employees pleaded guilty to stealing over $20,000 from the residents in the facility she worked at as a resident care assistant.

A chain of facilities has recently been closed. One facility in the chain was shocked to hear the news of their facility closing, due to many facilities in their same chain that had already been told they were shutting down, so they assumed they were in the clear. The staff was also shocked by the news, because their employers had told them they had nothing to worry about and the facility was doing fine.

A conflicting topic in the nursing home realm is whether or not cameras should be permitted in residents’ rooms. Supporters of cameras believe nursing homes should allow the use of cameras in patients’ rooms and argues they are a necessary item for nursing homes if abuse, theft, and negligence is to be stopped. One woman says she witnessed her loved one being neglected on a hidden camera she placed in the resident’s room.

A nursing home facility was disrupted in the middle of the day by a fire. The fire started on the first floor of the facility in the laundry room. A drier started sparks and soon the alarms were set off.