Tag: Pennsylvania Nursing home attorney

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

Willow Crest Manor Shut Down by Department of Public Works

Residents of Philadelphia and Willow Grove were appalled to find out that their local nursing homes, Willow Crest Manor, was being shut down by the Department of Public Works.  The DPW was quick to pull the plug on the home after investigations in to two suspicious deaths uncovered gross negligence and massive rule violations. 

The list of egregious violations included the administration of recalled drugs after the date of the recall, the distribution of medicine to its customers by unlicensed and under trained employees, and the use of prescription drugs without a doctor’s orders.  The DPW found that medicines given to residents weren’t being recorded, often resulting in patients receiving over or under doses of their life saving medication.  One resident said that after he told the staff he needed insulin, they did not provide it to him, forcing him to inject it himself while unsupervised.

The deaths of a 49-year old woman and a 24-year-old man with cerebral palsy found dead in his bed have resulted from similar violations.  It was obvious that residents at Willow Crest were in immediate and serious danger. The DPW ordered that all 51 residents, about half of who are elderly and most of whom suffer from mental illness, be evacuated and relocated at once.

Willow Crest Manor was among many major homes in the Philadelphia metropolitan area under scrutiny by the DPW.  There seems to be a common link between them all however: Owner Annand P Mittal.  The DPW has been finding serious state violations at his other agencies—including Southampton Manor in Bucks County, and Diston Manor and Adelphia in Philadelphia—that have caused them to ban his operating licenses.

Evidence from around the state and the rest of the country has highlighted that this is not an isolated problem.  Many privately owned for-profit nursing homes have been subject to criticism due to excessive negligence and rule violations.  Thankfully the Department of Public Works has done the right thing, however they certainly wont be able to remedy the damages already dealt by Willow Crest and other facilities like it.   If you know someone who has been a victim of the Willow Crest Manor or any other Pennsylvania or New Jersey nursing homes, please contact the Law Firm of John Mininno. There are legal remedies to help your family.

Related Information:

New Jersey Home Abuse Lawyers

New Jersey Bedsores Attorneys