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

In a story from today's Los Angeles Times, it is reported that a nursing home has been fined the maximum amount allowable by California law for a death attributed to the facility's failure to adequately maintain its equipment.

The resident, who was 60-years-old, had a heart condition, diabetes and a muscle wasting disease and was confined to a wheelchair. Because of her condition, the resident needed help getting up and into bed. The staff of the nursing home, Eskaton Care Center Manzanita, in Northern California, was using a type of mechanical lift to assist the resident from her wheelchair into her bed. The sling used to transfer the resident broke and she fell, hitting her head on a nearby door. She was taken to the hospital where it was discovered she suffered bleeding in her brain, brain damage and a short time later, a stroke. Tragically, the resident died four days after she was injured at the facility. The consequence to the company who runs the facility -- a $100,000.00 fine. Don't feel too bad for the company, though; the company, Eskaton, operates 35 properties and programs serving 14,000 people annually, including about 3,000 residents.

Make sure if you or a loved one is a resident of a nursing home or assisted living facility, the staff is not only properly trained in the correct use of equipment, but that the equipment is subject to regular and rigorous inspection. As this tragic incident demonstrates: A faulty piece of equipment is just as dangerous as unskilled staff.

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The Lexington Herald Leader (Kentucky) is reporting on a proposed law which would require the coroner whenever a resident passes away. The thought behind the law is pretty simple: If a coroner is called, it is much more likely deaths which result from abuse and neglect will be discovered and appropriately prosecuted. Seems to make sense, doesn't it?

After reading this article, I researched Idaho law to see if we were ahead of Kentucky. Much to my chagrin, Idaho is not. In the State of Idaho, there are only three instances which mandate a corner be called to the scene of a death: (1) death occurring as a result of violence; (2) death occurred under suspicious or unexplainable circumstances; and (3) the death of a child in certain circumstances. Of course, in any case where a coroner is required to be called, the scene must be preserved in order to allow the recovery of evidence.

I have to wonder, if Idaho was to amend the law to mandate a coroner be called in the event of a nursing home resident's death, would more nursing home abuse and neglect be discovered? The answer is virtually certain to be "yes." 

If this subject interests you, I urge you to contact your state legislator to discuss it with them. Rest assured, I will be doing the same in advance of the 2011 legislative session. 

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In an alarming article in the Seattle Times, Michael J. Berens reported that "over the past five years, at least 357 of the adult family homes in [Washington] have concealed cases of abuse or neglect of their residents. Many of those cases involved serious injury or death." Mr. Berens' report tells the story of Audrey Hopkins, "a stroke-and emphysema-hobbled 68-year-old who had lived in the TLC Adult Family Home for six months at the time of the March 2007" event where she was badly burned. It seems Ms. Hopkins was smoking a cigarette which set fire to the oxygen delivery system she was utilizing. The problem according to the article: Ms. Hopkins would have been physically incapable of lighting her own cigarette. Additionally, it was later discovered the staff had lied to investigators concerning how Ms. Hopkins obtained her cigarette, lit it, and the fact she was on oxygen at the time.

In Idaho, we have similar facilities known as "Certified Family Homes" which provide a family-styled living environment in which 2 or fewer adults live who are not able to reside in their own home and who require care, help in daily living, protection and security, supervision, personal assistance and encouragement toward independence. Residents of such "family homes" have many of the same rights as those who reside in assisted living facilities and nursing homes. These homes are regulated by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.

Let's hope the IDHW is doing a better job policing Idaho's certified family homes than the State of Washington is. You cannot count on that fact in these difficult economic times. It is up to you to research any facility to which you are going to trust your care or the care of a loved one. 

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I have previously written about "getting your affairs in order" in the form of a living will. A story by Jane Friedmann in yesterday's Minneapolis Star Tribune brought to mind an important topic concerning living wills or, as they are sometimes known, "advanced directives for health care." These are formal documents which tell your healthcare providers whether, or to what extent, you would like "heroic measures" such as CPR should your heart stop beating. Idaho Code §§ 39-4501 through -4515 govern these documents in Idaho and, in fact, the law sets forth the specific requirements of such a document.

Instead of boring you with a lot of "law," however, the story brought to light an issue of training and procedures for the Pine Medical Health Care Center. You see, a resident there did, in fact, have a valid living will. The problem was the staff could not locate the document when the resident's heart stopped beating. The nurse, instead of immediately starting CPR, "called her manager who told her where to find the documents and to start CPR." When the nurse who should have performed CPR on the resident was interviewed by the appropriate authorities, she apparently told them she "froze and was unable" to perform CPR even though that was the resident's wishes. Although the article does not state what happened to the resident; it can be safely presumed, however, a needless death occurred. The nurse faces "disqualification by the state and inclusion on an abuse registry."

It goes without saying, if a resident's living will is not placed in an obvious place, the delay in the staff locating it can lead to truly deadly consequences. Additionally, it would seem to me Pine Medical Health Care Center could have, and should have, developed a system to help staff readily identify whether its residents wish to have CPR performed or not. Finally, adequate training of facility staff would have resulted in an ability to properly perform CPR on the resident. Such a system and training could have prevented this needless catastrophe.

Does your facility have such procedures and training in place? You should check! If it does not, it could be your life that is needlessly lost.

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