A medical transport company was lifting a wheelchair-bound patient into the transport vehicle. The patient was placed on a hydraulic lift, which elevated the patient from the ground into the air. The medical transport company did not properly secure the patient’s wheelchair or supervise the patient.

An elderly, female nursing home patient with dementia and a history of exit-seeking behavior was admitted to a nursing home’s secure/locked unit to protect her from falls, wandering, and elopement. After a short period on the secure/locked unit, the nursing home moved the patient to a portion of the facility that was not locked. On the unlocked unit, the patient was noted to be “going down to the back doors trying to get out” and to have “went out the front doors,” without supervision.

A licensed practical nurse is no longer employed by a care facility after being charged with stealing morphine meant for a patient. According to the facility’s director, the 31-year-old nurse is now facing charges of unlawfully possessing a controlled drug and abuse of a patient. The charges against the nurse stem from an incident on May 19 where the nurse allegedly took a quantity of morphine that was prescribed for a patient and retained it for her own use.

A nursing home is being scrutinized after an elderly female resident slipped out of the facility, unnoticed by staff.The elderly woman, who suffers from several medical problems and dementia, had left the facility on multiple occasions, according to a Medicare investigative report. The woman’s previous elopements were resolved with her safe return. On July 12, 2011, the Medicare report says that she did not return.

A licensed practical nurse (LPN) at a nursing home was arrested last week after accusations that she failed to give residents their medicine and falsified records to indicate she had. The 38-year-old nurse was arrested after an investigation by the state Department of Health and state Attorney General’s Office. She was charged with five felony counts each of physical abuse and neglect of a resident, willful violation of health laws and falsifying business records, according to court documents.

An elderly nursing home patient was admitted to a nursing home as a high fall risk. The patient was initially provided with a bed alarm, but the bed alarm was withdrawn by the nursing home shortly after the patient arrived at the facility without any notice to the patient’s family. The patient’s family noticed during a later visit, the patient did not have either a fall alarm in his wheelchair or in his bed.