Report FINDINGS Page 3
Serious reasons why you should consult with an elder care attorney
NY Nursing Home Nutrition, Abuse, & Infection
In the other comparative surveys, federal inspectors found numerous serious violations
that the state did not find.
More problems found
-Nutrition: Federal inspectors found that one facility was providing
improper nutrition to all eight residents in their survey, thereby causing them actual harm.16
Although federal inspectors found a clear pattern of this violation, it was not reported by the state
inspectors.
-Infection: At this same nursing home, the federal inspectors reviewed the efforts of the facility to
protect residents from the spread of infection or contamination. The federal inspectors reviewed
the care provided to 15 infected residents and, in each case, found that nurses and aides failed to
ensure that the infections would not spread to other residents.17 Although federal inspectors
found that this pattern of poor care caused actual harm to residents, state inspectors did not cite
the home for any infection control problems.
-Abuse: At yet another nursing home, state inspectors failed to report instances where residents
were physically abused by other residents, despite the fact that these aggressive behaviors were
documented in the residents’ files. Federal inspectors reviewing these files found numerous
instances of resident abuse, such as one resident swinging his cane at another resident and a
second resident slapping another resident. Federal inspectors determined that the nursing home
did not adequately respond to these aggressive behaviors.21 State inspectors did not cite this
nursing home for abuse violations.
State inspectors even ignored issues that they themselves identified as concerns. Prior to starting one inspection, state inspectors were aware that fecal impaction was a concern in the nursing home. Yet when the inspection was conducted, no residents with fecal impaction were included in the review of medical records.33
At other times, state inspectors failed to follow through on problems that were observed or raised during the inspection. One nursing home had an inordinate number of falls involving residents, yet federal inspectors reported that state inspectors did not investigate to determine why these falls were occurring.34 In another nursing home, state inspectors failed to investigate a bruise that was observed around a resident’s eye.35 In two other facilities, state inspectors failed
Many other serious violations detected by federal inspectors were also missed by state inspectors, including failing to maintain an alternate power supply in the event of a power interruption, even though eight residents depended on electricity for their life sustaining machines.22 Other violations cited by federal inspectors but not by state inspectors include the improper administration of medicines23 and the failure to keep the home free of hazards.24
CONCLUSION
Elder care attorneys can be contacted to investigate the enforcement of the protections afforded to nursing home residents this is an important responsibility. Because many nursing home residents are elderly and frail, they must depend on the enforcement system to ensure that they receive quality care. Unfortunately, the findings in this report indicate that New York has had a poor enforcement record, frequently missing serious health and safety violations during nursing homes inspections.
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Report at Nursing Home NY Report Violations
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