Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect in Connecticut

We trust nursing homes to take care of our loved ones. What happens when that trust is breached? What are the common signs of elder abuse?

2012-06-08

June 08, 2012 (Press-News.org) Nursing homes are responsible for the care and comfort of those who cannot take care of themselves. Unfortunately, all too often nursing home patients become victims of abuse and neglect at the very hands of those entrusted to watch over them.

The statistics on nursing home abuse are shocking, making it ever more important for family members and friends to ensure that nursing homes treat their loved ones well.

Examples of Preventable Abuse

Torrington Health and Rehabilitation Center in Torrington, Connecticut, was fined $510 and ordered to implement a corrective plan after allowing a patient to choke to death on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Doctors had ordered staff to monitor the elderly, mentally-ill patient while eating after cutting his food into small pieces. They were to encourage him to eat slowly and take small bites, and cue him when to chew and swallow. However, staff left him with an entire sandwich, leading to his death by cardiac and respiratory arrest.

Fairfield, Connecticut's Ludlow Center for Health and Rehabilitation faced a similar fine for allowing a patient to lose 43 pounds in 46 days. Although the patient needed "extensive assistance" and encouragement eating, staff failed to provide that assistance and the patient began to lose weight rapidly. The nursing home allowed him to waste away and did not order nutritional supplements for over a month.

While these two situations are disturbing, they are not uncommon. More than 30 percent of nursing home residents experience some form of abuse or neglect. In fact, one in four nursing homes were cited for causing the death or serious injury of a patient in 2001. And that number only includes reported incidences -- less than 20 percent of abusive incidents are reported.

Many factors contribute to abuse, including inadequate staffing levels and the fact that 92 percent of nursing homes employ at least one person with a criminal conviction.

Common Signs of Elder Abuse

Friends and family of patients in care facilities should take care to watch for signs of neglect or abuse; this is especially true for patients with communication challenges. Some common signs of elder abuse are:
- Unexplained cuts, bruises, burns or fractures
- Over-medication
- Sudden behavioral changes
- Poor hygiene
- Changes in financial behavior
- Staff that will not allow family or friends to visit a patient alone

If you suspect that your friend or loved one is being abused, contact an attorney experienced in nursing home abuse cases immediately to discuss the situation and the options. By properly documenting the situation and reporting your suspicions to authorities, you can help stop nursing home patients from being victimized by their caregivers.

Article provided by Brian D. Kaschel Law Office
Visit us at www.briankaschel.com/

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

An important breakthrough in immunology by IRCM researchers

2012-06-08

A team of researchers at the IRCM led by Dr. André Veillette made an important breakthrough in the field of immunology, which will be published online today by the scientific journal Immunity. The scientists explained a poorly understood molecular mechanism associated with a human immune disorder known as XLP disease or Duncan's syndrome. "We studied the SAP molecule, which plays a critical role in multiple different types of immune cells," says Dr. Veillette, Director of the Molecular Oncology research unit at the IRCM. "More specifically, we wanted to understand why ...

Research helps quantum computers move closer

2012-06-08

The quantum computer is a futuristic machine that could operate at speeds even more mind-boggling than the world's fastest super-computers. Research involving physicist Mike Thewalt of Simon Fraser University offers a new step towards making quantum computing a reality, through the unique properties of highly enriched and highly purified silicon. Quantum computers right now exist pretty much in physicists' concepts, and theoretical research. There are some basic quantum computers in existence, but nobody yet can build a truly practical one—or really knows how. Such ...

For Those Who Need it Most, the SSD System Can Be Hard to Navigate

2012-06-08

Social Security Disability benefits are designed to aid those who are unable to work due to an injury, disease or other medical condition. Although the application process may appear easy after browsing the Social Security Administration's (SSA) website, many people who meet the required qualifications and should receive benefits are often initially denied. In fact, initial claims for disability benefits are denied 65 percent of the time. There are ways to fight a social security disability denial. Unfortunately, although an appeals process is available, it can take ...

Finding ways to feed pigs for less

2012-06-08

Results of a preliminary experiment conducted at the University of Illinois indicate that it may be possible to select pigs that can make efficient use of energy in less expensive feed ingredients, thus reducing diet costs. Less expensive feed is usually higher in fiber than the corn-soy diets typically used in U.S. swine production, explained Hans H. Stein, professor of animal sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. However, the white breeds that are used in commercial pork production use only about 40 percent of the insoluble fiber. "If you can increase ...

New data suggests HIV superinfection rate comparable to initial HIV infection

2012-06-08

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) superinfection may be as common as initial HIV infection and is not limited to high risk-populations, according to a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). In the first large-scale study of HIV superinfection in a general heterosexual population, researchers examined the rate of superinfection among a community of sub-Saharan adults. HIV superinfection occurs when an HIV-infected individual acquires a new viral strain that ...

Boat Injury Verdict - $350,000

2012-06-08

Several weeks ago, Neufeld, Kleinberg & Pinkiert was approached by another law firm. This other law firm represented a man who was injured when an old wooden set of stairs (connecting a yacht to the dock) collapsed as the man was disembarking from the vessel. The owner of the boat had been previously notified of the stair / gangplank's shoddy condition, but elected to avoid making any repairs or replacements. The man was significantly injured. Knowing of David Kleinberg's reputation as a relentless, yet entertaining and incisive advocate in the courtroom, the other ...

Study links teamwork, communication with quality of nursing home care

2012-06-08

Nursing homes that foster an environment in which workers feel they are valued contributors to a team of caregivers provide better care to their residents. That is the conclusion of a study out this month in the journal Health Services Research. "We know from other fields of medicine that teamwork – the relationship between coworkers that facilitates decision making and care coordination – plays an important role in the quality of care," said Helena Temkin-Greener, Ph.D., lead author of the study and professor in the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine ...

Scientists discover huge phytoplankton bloom in ice-covered waters

2012-06-08

A team of researchers, including scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), discovered a massive bloom of phytoplankton beneath ice-covered Arctic waters. Until now, sea ice was thought to block sunlight and limit the growth of microscopic marine plants living under the ice. The amount of phytoplankton growing in this under-ice bloom was four times greater than the amount found in neighboring ice-free waters. The bloom extended laterally more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) underneath the ice pack, where ocean and ice physics combined to create a phenomenon ...

How Negligence Can Turn A Surgical Sponge Into A Deadly Object

2012-06-08

In hospitals throughout Illinois and the rest of the United States, about one in every 6,000 surgical patients faces a common complication: Surgeons mistakenly sew up a patient while leaving a foreign object inside the surgical site, often a surgical sponge. The consequences of this surgical error can be painful and even deadly, because the body reacts unfavorably to a foreign object. For example, one victim suffered increasing pain after abdominal surgery, complaining repeatedly to his doctors until they finally reopened his incision five months later and discovered ...

Rice, UCLA slash energy needs for next-generation memory

2012-06-08

HOUSTON -- (June 7, 2012) -- Researchers from Rice University and UCLA unveiled a new data-encoding scheme this week that slashes more than 30 percent of the energy needed to write data onto new memory cards that use "phase-change memory" (PCM) -- a competitor to flash memory that has big backing from industry heavyweights. The breakthrough was presented at the IEEE/ACM Design Automation Conference (DAC) in San Francisco by researchers from Rice University's Adaptive Computing and Embedded Systems (ACES) Laboratory. PCM uses the same type of materials as those used ...