Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

Alden Park Strathmoor is a 189 bed nursing home facility located in Rockford, Illinois. In the past two years, Alden Park Strathmoor's inspection deficiency record has surpassed the average number of health deficiencies in Illinois. Alden Park Strathmoor received fourteen deficiencies in 2008 and twenty-seven deficiencies in 2007. The average number of nursing home deficiencies in Illinois is eight. Currently, Alden Park Strathmoor is rated as a one-star nursing home according to the new system instituted by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid.

According to the survey reports, Alden Park Strathmoor failed to protect its residents from mistreatment, neglect, and/or theft of personal property, including at least one Level 4 "Immediate Jeopardy" deficiency. An "Immediate Jeopardy" deficiency is a situation where a resident has been placed in danger. In that instance, a fifty-five year old resident suffering from respiratory failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, acute renal failure, schizophrenia and bipolar disease was denied a respiratory treatment after running out of oxygen. The tank was empty all night and when the resident asked the nurse for a new tank and respiratory treatment, the nurse told the resident, "I'm not doing anything for you if you don't take a shower." It was 1:00 a.m. and the resident did not want to shower in the middle of the night. The resident called 911 for help. The nurse justified her callous treatment of the resident because he was using profanity and had a very offensive body odor. She did not know how long the resident had been out of oxygen. This resident had a provision in his Care Plan to assist with his resistance to care and the nurse delibrately failed to follow it. This nurse also failed to assess the resident's condition after receiving the information that he was out of oxygen and seeing that he was having difficulty breathing and his skin was pale. The facility had to perform in-service training for its employees' on its own abuse policy and procedure and neglect through withholding of treatment. The Administrator is now required to monitor compliance through resident interviews.

Care Plans must be developed for each resident to meet the resident's medical, nursing, and mental needs. The Care Plan must be routinely assessed and updated to reflect the resident's ongoing needs. Alden Park Strathmoor failed to keep an updated Care Plan in place for a resident that had a left arm PICC line. The Care Plan did not reflect the length of time that the PICC line was to remain in the resident's arm.

Pressure sores are always a concern for bed-bound residents and, if not monitored closely and timely treated, can result in death. At Alden Park Strathmoor, facility staff improperly provided perineal care after a patient's incontinence episode. The patient, completely dependent upon facility staff for all activities of daily living, was washed with bath soap that had been added to water in the water basin. Staff failed to rinse soap from the skin prior to drying the area. No protective barrier was applied to the perineal area before cleaning the rectal-coccyx area. The CNA performing the task advised inspectors that she usually used a second basin to rinse, but failed to do so in this case. The facility was forced to provide additional in-service training for its staff in perinal care, pressure sore prevention, and the healing and treatment of pressure sores.

Proper assessment and documentation of pressure sores is vital to the care and treatment of the affected resident. If the nursing home fails to submit correct information, the resident will continue to go without proper care. In one instance, a resident informed a state inspector that he had two pressure sores on his backside. When the resident's dressings were removed, it was determined that he actually had three pressure sores. The wound care notes only noted one pressure ulcer.

Every nursing home resident is entitled to care and services to ensure the highest level of well-being attainable. Alden Park Strathmoor failed its residents in this area. A resident at the facility tripped over another resident's feet and suffered a head injury. The resident's eye was swollen and discolored and the resident was treated for pain. The resident was monitored for a few days. Seven days after the injury, the resident was lethargic and non-responsive and was sent to the hospital for evaluation. The resident had suffered a massive intracranial hemorrhage with layering of blood. Another resident, suffering from ovarian cancer, was not provided the appropriate medication prior to receiving a chemotherapy treatment and the chemotherapy had to be rescheduled. Facility staff had to be in-serviced on the appropriate procedure to follow regarding accident reporting, which included monitoring resident. Nurses had to be in-serviced regarding carrying forward recurring medication orders from previous months to current month.

Notification of changes in mental or physical condition is important for nursing home residents, especially if the resident is unable to make decisions concerning care. A fifty-seven year old resident was having problems with regurgitation and required frequent suctioning. His tube feeding was shut off to allow his stomach time to calm down. The resident's wife was not informed of his change in condition until the following day, even though there was a note on the front of the chart to notify her of all changes in condition. One diabetic resident suffered from repeated problems with her sugar surging up and down. She fell after tripping over another resident's feet and sustained injuries to her right eye. She complained of pain the next day and her eye was discolored and swollen. Approximately seven days after her fall, there were problems rousing her and she was sent to the hospital, where any intracranial hemorrhage was diagnosed. The Power of Attorney was not called, just her local family. Facility staff had to be in-serviced on what appeared to be obvious signs of resident changes in condition and the facility's very own policy.

Proper nutrition is vital for nursing home residents. In a five month period, one Alden Park Strathmoor resident lost over eleven pounds without any intervention. Another resident had lost over five pounds in a two month period and that resident's weight was supposed to be monitored. Facility staff had to be in-serviced concerning the facility's weight policy, which includes notifying a nursing supervisor or other person in charge concerning weight loss. The Director of Nursing was instructed to oversee and monitor the residents' weight.

As with any other nursing home, Alden Park Strathmoor is required to provide medically-related social services to attain the highest level of well-being for each resident. The facility failed miserably when it failed to assist a resident suffering from ovarian cancer in getting her oncology and surgical referral appointments and failed to ensure that abdominal and pelvic CT scans were performed per physician orders. The facility advised that there was no transportation for the resident to make multiple local appointments. The facility had to in-service its nurses and Social Service Designee regarding how to arrange transportation for residents.

Alden Park Strathmoor is required by law to provide housekeeping services to maintain a sanitary, orderly, and comfortable facility. The facility failed to maintain a refrigerator temperature to avoid freezing the contents, failed to store resident and staff food in an organized and clean manner, and failed to label and date refrigerator contents. The refrigerator temperature was twenty degrees Fahrenheit. Food and other items on the shelves were cluttered and disorderly and dirt was found on shelves and on the bottom of the refrigerator. Refrigerator items were not labeled with resident names or dates. Additionally, multiple soap dispensers in the facility were non-operational in a facility that had ten residents in isolation for communicable diseases and at least two residents with MRSA infections. Facility department managers had to complete rounds to ensure that refrigerators were kept clean, kept at the correct temperature, and ensure that the contents were clearly labeled. In-service instruction was held concerning reporting broken or non-functioning equipment.

The Terry Law Firm is experienced in handling cases of nursing home abuse and neglect. For more information, call us directly at 1 (888) 317-2525 or visit our website at www.nursinghomejustice.com.