A 2006 report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies finds that medication errors are among the most common medical errors, harming at least 1.5 million people every year.  The extra medical costs of treating drug-related injuries occurring…

  An educational journal for nurses recently reported that more than one million individuals develop pressure ulcers (also known as pressure sores, bed sores, and decubitus ulcers) annually. It is estimated that 11% of residents in skilled-care and nursing homes…

The number of younger, mentally ill nursing home patients has been on the rise in recent years. This influx of potentially aggressive residents is creating some serious safety concerns, The Associated Press reported. Mentally ill residents between the ages of…

A 74-year-old woman was allowed to fall at a nursing home. The fall caused a broken hip, requiring surgery and affecting her ability to eat and drink effectively. She died of aspiration pneumonia a little over a month after the…

Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) have re-introduced a bill to give consumers more information about individual nursing homes and their record of care. The Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act would require nursing homes to develop internal quality…

A convalescent hospital was fined $80,000 after a 54-year-old schizophrenic patient choked on a meatball and died. The facility had known the patient had problems swallowing, meaning the spaghetti meatball served to him should have been chopped or sliced, according…