Nursing Home Abuse Advocate : Idaho Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers & Attorneys : Kormanik Hallam & Sneed Law Firm : ID Assisted Living Neglect, Nursing Home Injuries : Boise, Nampa, Caldwell

I came across an article on CNBC today concerning an unlicensed hospice facility in Twin Falls, Idaho. Apparently, an unlicensed woman is accused of operating an unlicensed healthcare and hospice facility. The charges are misdemeanors and the defendant has moved to dismiss all charges.

Whether the charges are dismissed or not, this news shines a light on a topic which needs to be addressed, that is, verifying the status of any nursing home or assisted living facility's license. This verification can take place while you are searching for an appropriate facility or, even, periodically after you or a loved one has become a resident.

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare's website contains several links through which you can check on the license status of a nursing home or assisted living facility. For example, the State of Idaho licenses "Residential Care and Assisted Living Facilities." These facilities are facilities or residences, however named, operated either on a profit or nonprofit basis for the purpose of providing necessary supervision, personal assistance, meals and lodging to three or more adults not related to the owner. The IDHW gives you two ways to confirm a nursing home or assisted living facility is licensed: either alphabetically or by region of the state.

Of course, facilities which receive Medicare funding are both licensed by the State of Idaho and certified by the Federal Government. Such facilities include "Long Term Care/Skilled Nursing Facilities, which are designed and function to meet the health needs of two or more elderly or disabled individuals who, at a minimum, require inpatient care, and services, for twenty-four or more consecutive hours. By using the Medicare Compare website, you can ensure any facility which accepts Medicare residents is properly licensed.

Please check the licensing status of the facility you are considering or in which you or a loved one is a resident. Licensing serves to provide nursing home and assisted living facility residents with a modicum of protection. You should not trust your care in a time of need to an unlicensed facility.

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In an interesting article in today's New York Times, Paula Span, writes on the dangers bed rails pose to nursing home residents. Although many people, including Ms. Span, believe bed rails keep nursing home residents safe, actually, the opposite is true.

According to geriatrician and bioethicist Steven Miles of the University of Minnesota: Although side rails"decrease your risk of falling by 10 to 15 percent...they {actually] increase the risk of injury by about 20 percent." This is so because confused or residents with dementia, who try to climb over the rails, are apt to fall farther and strike their heads if side rails are in use. A greater risk than falls, however, is "entrapment." This occurs where patients get stuck within the rails or between the rail and the mattress. Mr. Miles has some advice for those of you looking for a quality and safe nursing home: “Count off 10 beds. See how many have rails in use. If more than one or two in 10 beds have rails up, walk out of the facility.”

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As a resident of a nursing home or assisted living facility, there are many things you rely upon the facility to help you with. One of the most important, perhaps, is the administration of prescription or over-the-counter medications. If the facility gives you the wrong medication, the consequences can be dire, even fatal.

In an article posted today, KSAX, an ABC affiliate in Minnesota, reports on such a medication error. According to reporter Megan Matthews, the facility gave another's medication to a resident. The result was death. According to the CEO of Fair Oaks Lodge, Mr. Joel Beiswenger, the medication error and resulting death was "just one of those things that happened. Nobody intended to do anything, and it was the human making the tragic error."  a 

Mr. Beiswenger appears to either honestly miss, or simply ignore, an important point: Similar medication errors have occurred no fewer than two other times at the facility. This facts leads me to question whether Mr. Beiswenger or Fair Oaks Lodge have taken adequate steps to find the root cause of such errors. Was the facility adequately staffed for the number and acquity of the residents? Was the staff adequately trained to ensure medications were given only to the proper resident? Were there safeguards in place to prevent a medication error which led to a resident's death?

If you are a resident of a nursing home or assisted living facility, make sure the medications you receive are, in fact, your own. Make sure you receive them in the correct dosages at the proper times. The life you save may be your own. If you are the family member of a nursing home or assisted living facility resident, make sure the facility takes adequate precautions to prevent medication errors. Such medication errors can and do occur and, as demonstrated by the incident at Fair Oaks Lodge, the results can be catastrophic.

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