nursing home attorney Archives - New Jersey Medical Malpractice Lawyers

Nursing Home Abuse Exposé: Eastern Pines Convalescent Center

It is important for us, as nursing home abuse lawyers for New Jersey and the Philadelphia area, to review care facilities in the area for signs of nursing home abuse or neglect. We have recently been posting on some of the facilities with a high number of cited deficiencies. Today we will discuss the Eastern Pines Convalescent Center.

Eastern Pines Convalescent Center Puts Residents in Danger

new jersey philadelphia nursing home abuse lawyers eastern pines Convalescent Center This nursing home is a 141 long term care bed facility located in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Between November, 2008 and October, 2010, it was routinely inspected twice. These inspections are performed by the Division of Health Care facilities Evaluation and Licensing for the NJ Department of Health and Senior Services.

During these two inspections, 34 deficiencies were cited at the facility. Although there were a variety of deficiencies cited, some of the most severe had to do with abuse and neglect policies, patients’ rights to voice grievances without reprisal, infection control issues, and issues regarding sanitation. These deficiencies were found to be widespread, with a number of them alleged to cause immediate jeopardy to resident health and safety.

Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers in New Jersey and Phialdelphia

It is extremely important to be aware of a nursing home’s records and reputation before placing a loved one in it’s care. It is equally as important to be vigilant in your review of these health department reports to protect the safety of the patient from various forms of abuse and neglect. This Atlantic County nursing home has had many serious deficiencies cited in the past two years, and family members of residents must make extra efforts to ensure that proper treatment and care are being provided.

If your loved one is currently a resident at nursing home or long term care facility, and you feel that the care they are receiving is poor, negligent, sub par, or dangerous, contact the Mininno Law Office for a free case evaluation. The NJ and PA nursing home abuse lawyers at the Mininno Law Office are skilled and experienced in earning compensation for victims of nursing home abuse. You may also call for a free case evaluation at (856) 833-0600 in New Jersey, or (215) 567-2380 in Philadelphia.

Don’t let abusive and inattentive nursing homes continue to diminish your loved one’s quality of life. Contact a nursing home abuse attorney today.

Should a Price Tag be put on Good Medical Care?

There has been much debate about health care over the last few months. One of the issues that is being brought up over and over again is whether or not tort reform and limits on malpractice suits actually will save money. Some people say it does because doctors will not have to spend so much money ordering special tests and treatments for patients when it may not be needed. Should a price tag really be put on good medical care? What if a doctor did not order a test or treatment because they thought it was not needed and then later discovered that it could have helped? For situations like these that happen every day in millions of hospitals, doctor’s offices, and nursing homes in every state, we still need our malpractice rights. It is still possible that even with universal coverage those doctors may make a medical error either because they want to cut a cost or because they just did not pay enough attention. States that have medical malpractice caps and tort reform are not actually saving any more money than those who do not have them. So why should we deny patients the right to good medical care and treatment when we are not really saving any money by doing so? Everyone, even the doctors that see patients every day, should have the right to speak up if their medical care is inadequate or if there is a problem. This should be a basic right as a person and an American. Malpractice caps do not save money on health insurance so why take away a person’s right to good medical care and treatment and the right to sue if they do not receive it? The logic just does not make sense.

People in this country have the right to free speech as well as many other rights and that should always include the right to speak up about medical errors and malpractice. These rights should be totally different than the health insurance debate because there should not be a price tag on person’s right to good proper medical care.

If you would like more information on the health care debate and malpractice rights, you may visit this link.

If you or a loved one has been injured or abused due to improper medical care, contact a medical malpractice lawyer right away. They will help you advocate for your right to be heard and receive the care you deserve.

Nursing Home Training Tips to Prevent Abuse

Every day millions of nursing home patients face abuse because many nursing home put profits over patients. As a result, many nursing homes are understaffed and have overworked, underpaid and unqualified employees. In particular, many nursing home employees are not trained to properly care for and treat bed sores due to incontinence, poor nutrition, and immobility. Many goverment agencies and organizations, including the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, have studied and evaluated ways to better train employees at nursing homes and other assisted living facilities to help prevent bed sores and pressure ulcer, as well as many other types of nursing home abuse faced by millions of patients every day. Although, the first concern should be patient care, unfortunately money usually comes before the care of a patient. Clearly, with proper training and care of nursing home employees, much of the abuse we see can easily be prevented.

For example, nursing home employees should be trained to properly asses patients with immobility problems such as those in a wheelchair or those who are bed bound. The evaluation of these patients should include plans for:

·a special diet plan

·Being repositioned or turned at night to reduce or prevent bed sores.

·A daily exercise routine

·Regular skin and hygiene evaluations

Regular bathing and cleansing of bed bound or wheelchair bound individuals can also help reduce or prevent bed sores and other types of abuse. Problems should be noted and written down on a weekly or monthly report. If a nursing home patient develops a malnutrition problem the first step that needs to taken is an evaluation of the food they have been eating and careful evaluation after adding more calories and nutrients.

Many times, the employees want training, but can not afford to do so. Clearly, nursing homes and assisted living facilities should provide training classes to nursing home caregivers at little or no cost so that they can learn the proper ways to reposition, transfer and help a bed bound or wheelchair bound patient to help prevent bed sores or pressure ulcers.

Below are simple and general guidelines and training tips that can help to prevent nursing home abuse for millions of patients every day. Patients and their care should be priority number one; if not, patients need to have nursing home lawyer, someone fighting for their rights to proper medical care and abuse prevention.

If you feel that you or your loved ones rights have not been respected or you have been a victim of nursing home abuse, please contact a nursing home abuse attorney right away and let a nursing home lawyer help you fight for your rights and your loved ones.

To read additional information about the guidelines provided by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research and the National Libary of Medicine, you may visit the following website:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?rid=hstat2.chapter.4409

Are Nursing Homes the Safest Places for our Loved Ones?

Putting a loved one in a nursing home is the toughest decision a family can ever make. We research on line, ask friends, nurses and visit the facility to make sure we are making the best decision. We would like to believe that when we spend time picking out a nursing home for our relative or loved one to go stay and live in for the rest of their lives that they are going to be well taken care of and looked after by properly trained and staffed nursing homes. We also would like to believe that they will receive the proper attention and medical care whenever such care and attention is needed. Unfortunately, many Nursing Homes put profits over patients. No matter where you live, nursing home and elderly abuse are a real problem in any state including New Jersey. It is important to understand the reasons for elderly abuse and nursing home abuse before we can begin to solve the problem. The following is list of some possible reasons for this type of abuse:

· Not enough staff

This may be due to not being able to pay people enough for the amount of work they do, or people left and went elsewhere to be closer to relatives, or the market for this type of work may be bad in some areas over other areas.

· Under qualified employees

Reasons for this might be that the employees never went through school for proper training, never received proper on the job training or attended training classes.

· Overworked employees

If there are not enough staff as mentioned before, the employees a nursing home does have may be working longer hours and may be tired, or even feeling ill when they come to work. This leads to employees not paying enough attention which can lead to abuse.

· Stress and Frustration

If an employee is stressed or frustrated on how to help a certain patient, this may lead to improper care and abuse. Training classes should be provided for these situations.

Some common signs of elderly abuse may include:

· Unexplained injuries or bruises

· Not receiving the proper doges of medications

· Cuts or welts

· poor nutrition and dehydration

· Unsanitary conditions

· Infections

· Sudden death

Bed sores and pressure ulcers

Sadly, these problems occur every day in even the nicest nursing homes and living facilities. There are different types of abuse. These can be physical, emotional, neglect, abandonment, emotional, or even financial. By putting profits over patient care, nursing home make millions for their investors while providing inadequate care.

The number of people suffering from elder abuse was 2.5 million in 1991, according to some studies from the National Center on Elder Abuse and this number will keep rising unless people become more aware of the problem and how to fix it.

If you or someone you love, you believe may have be a victim of this type of abuse, please call: (856) 833-0600 or contact a nursing home attorney for help today.

Do not be afraid to speak up and get the help you need for your loved ones; they deserve the best care possible and may be depending on you to help them fight for their rights.

For more information on nursing home abuse and what can be done visit:

Got to the New Jersey Nursing Home Directory for a list of deficieny reports on 361 Nursing Homes in New Jersey.

Another great resource is the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services web site which lists Health Care tools and research.

What Every Citizen Should Know About the Nursing Home Industry: A background

Deciding whether to put a loved one into a nursing home is the one of the most difficult decisions we must all face. In today’s fast paced society, however, it has become increasingly difficult to care for the elderly at home. Even more daunting, is choosing the right nursing home. Indeed, making a decision on a facility is difficult; with more and more nursing homes going up every year, the number of available options seems endless, even in some of the more remote sections of the country. Although on the surface many nursing homes may appear to be the same, there are dramatic differences between nursing homes, and unfortunately, many shortcomings. In order to have a better understanding of how nursing homes can be so dramatically different in quality of care, and to help you choose which nursing home might be best for your loved ones, you should first have a basic understanding of how nursing homes function in the United States.

First and foremost, it is important to constantly be aware that more than 80% of nursing homes in the Unites States are for-profit, publicly traded, corporations. This is in direct contrast to hospitals in the Unites States, which 87% of are non-profit operations. So how does this affect you and your family? Simple. In any publicly traded corporation, the final goal will always be profit. The Profits must come first. This is not just common practice, it is written into law. By law a publically traded corporations the most important, if not the only, obligation is to increase the profits of their shareholders. This set up has helped drive industrial and technological advancements at a staggering pace. However when it is applied to the practice of nursing homes and long term care, a problem arises.

By nature, medicine and long term care are extremely expensive. The cost to run hospitals and long term care, and nursing homes can reach staggering figures. In fact, it is estimated that at least $180 billion is spent on critical care alone in the United States each year. Although cost cutting is always a simple and desirable way to boost profits in any corporation, the nature of health care and long-term care simply does not allow for it. When dealing with the lives of human beings, there are large and unavoidable costs connected to providing their patients with the care they need to stay healthy with an acceptable quality of life. Unfortunately, this does not stop these corporate nursing homes from doing whatever they can to minimize their spending.

This cost cutting rears its ugly head in many forms in corporate nursing homes. Most apparent however, is the effect it has on the staff. Many for-profit nursing homes are dramatically under staffed, many of whom do not have the proper training to manage their positions in the first place. Lack of training, oversight, and personnel immediately translates into health risks to the patient. This includes, but is not limited to: bed sores, falls, under and over medicating, mixing up patients’ medications, unacceptable poor hygiene, physical abuse by staff, and lack of response to emergency situations. Incidents such as this are a daily occurrence. Fortunately however, you have the power to choose where to place your loved ones, and when the worst happens, you have the legal power to do whatever you can to rectify the situation.

When the worst happens to a loved one in a nursing home, contact an attorney immediately. The status quo of dramatic cost cutting in the nursing home industry will not change until it is no longer profitable to continue cutting costs and quality of care. By bringing a suit against a nursing home or long term care facility, you are demanding they change their way of business by punishing them financially for their neglect. By contacting an attorney who specializes in nursing homes, you are doing your part to make sure what terrible things happened to your loved ones do not happen to someone else.

Contact a Nursing Home Attorney in PA
Contact a Nursing Home Attorney in NJ

A Quarter of Nursing Homes Flunk the Test

In mid December, the federal government unveiled its new rating system, which it uses to help advise the public on the quality of care they are receiving from their local area nursing homes. This system will help individuals make informed decisions about the institution they trust with the care of their loved ones.

Under the new system, five stars means a nursing home ranks “much above average,” four stars indicates “above average,” three means “about average,” two is “below average” with a one indicating “much below average.” The rankings will be updated quarterly. Senator Herb Kohl of Wisconsin stated that the new ranking system would help bolster transparency, which is, “…the key when it comes to nursing home quality.”

Unfortunately, along with the progress of informed decision making came the shocking realization that almost a quarter of all nursing homes in the country have been given the federal government’s lowest possible rating: one out of five stars. Receiving such a low rank in particular had to do with the high percentage of patients with bedsores after their first 90 days in the nursing home and the number of residents whose mobility worsened after admission.

When nursing homes are understaffed, over worked, and improperly trained, the results can be catastrophic. Where there is lack of individual patient attention, pressure sores and decreased mobility are sure to follow. When it comes to protecting your loved ones, please pay strict attention to the federal rating system. Alice Hedt of the Insititute for Nursing Home Reform states that, “Our initial reaction is that consumers should probably avoid any facility with a one- or two-star rating and even a three-star rating unless people they trust convince them that the rating is inaccurate or unfair.” However, the rating system alone is not enough to properly judge. Ms. Hedt advises that, “…Nothing should substitute visiting a nursing home when making a decision.”

If you are in the process of finding a nursing home for your loved one, please pay strict attention to the federal ranking system. If you have a family member already in a nursing home, please remember to check on them regularly. Bedsores are a life threatening injury, and should be checked for regularly. If your family member has been subject to bedsores due to a lack of proper care, please contact an attorney to help remedy the situation as fast as possible.

Related Information:

New Jersey Lawyers – Nursing Home Abuse