Nursing home abuse lawyers list signs of abuse

[haileyalexis709]

She finally went back to a different rehab facility where she was getting better care.  However; on two occasions, a doctor diagnosed her as having a thrush infection on her tongue and ordered a "Swab and Swallow" technique be done. A liquid antibiotic was placed on her tongue, swishec around and she was made to swallow it. The problem was the doctor never read my mom's medical file and didn't know that she was NPO - nothing by mouth. After the second time, she was sent back to the hospital.

[haileyalexis709]

It was the same hospital that she went to when she had the collapsed lung. She was now diagnosed with aspiration pneumonia. This time, they didn't allow physical therapist to do bedside therapy with the excuse that the therapist would stop if she winced in pain from the bedsores. I am a speech therapist and have done some rehab. The doctors told me to do the therapy on her. I was incensed.

[haileyalexis709]

So now they weren't turning her over, changing her on a regular two hour basis and they weren't allowing her to be moved by physical therapists either. There was a turning schedule on the wall and the nurses actually told us that they never followed it. From mid August to the end of August, she got no movement from the nurses. She died not from the initial stroke but from the numerous bedsores and from the numerous staph infections which she got from being in the hospitals and nursing homes.

[haileyalexis709]

I argued with that hospital staff continuously to turn her over every four hours. All I got were excuses as why they couldn't do it. I had to fight for everything that she was entitled to in that hospital.

[haileyalexis709]

That is why immediate family members have to be an advocate for patients who can't speak for themselves. My mother had a stroke in February 2008. She had no bedsores when she was in the hospital. She went into a rehab center where they were giving her blood pressure medication every time the top number of her blood pressure went over 100, She became more and more lethargic and couldn''t wake up. She eventually was transferred back to the hospital when her lung collapsed with pneumonia.

[barnaby20001953]

It is in the planning stages at the moment. I have contacted a lawyer previously and he told me the best way to get any type of assistance with regard to what is going on in long term care facilities is to make information public. One has to have input from as many individuals as possible and stand as a united front regarding what is going on in nursing homes. The major issue is having individuals come forward to express their concerns top get government actions. Elections coming now the time.

[haileyalexis709]

I have a major lawsuit going on against the Hosptial and the Nursing homes that my mother was in. I have every intention of going public with my information. I have pictures of my mother that I took with my cell phone and sent to my computer. My lawyers also sent a private investigator into the second nursing home to take pictures of my mother's bedsores.

[haileyalexis709]

The private investigator said that he had been doing this for a number of years and this was one of the worst cases of neglect that he had ever seen. The administration of that nursing home were shocked at my mother's condition but then they made a mistake of giving my mother medication by mouth which sent her back to the hospital. So they are now going to be part of a law suit also.

[willietellme]

Hey there , I'm in Sydney too and I'd like to know more about this meeting at Membertou. Can you please fill me in as to when this is happening ?

[barnaby20001953]

I just got your message and responding regarding the Membertou discussion. I have heard from another interested party and have been doing alot of homework with regard to the presentation. contacting individuals etc. Anyway if you like you can reach me at the following number 5623479 willietellme . What I am told stays inhouse unless other told to disclose. One cannot be to careful.

[haileyalexis709]

Barnaby,

Who are you referring to here?

[haileyalexis709]

Sorry to be so long winded with my responses but I tell my story to anyone that will listen. The information about the abuse has to get out there otherwise nothing will ever get changed.

[manitobasuntanner]

are yousaying that Dana abused christopher, cause that's what it sounds like to me. Sometimes ulcers can't be helped buddy...it's terrible but it's true. the nurses aids should be turning these people more than they do, but they are overworked and understaffed.

[haileyalexis709]

Bedsores can be helped and prevented. The staff being overworked and understaffed is no excuse to allow a patient to get bedsores.

[haileyalexis709]

Cont'd:

In New York, when a person is rated as being a high risk for developing bedsores they must take the necessary precaustions so the bedsores do not happen. Turning them over is not the only precaution. The doctors must also make sure that their protein intake is adequate (which it is not with just the feeding tubes), that they are getting enough hydration, that they are being stimulated enough physically and therapists (with movement from the nurses and therapists). .

[haileyalexis709]

Manitobasuntanner,

Never let anyone make you believe that bedsores are not preventalbe. They most certainly are.

[haileyalexis709]

Another thing that must be done to prevent bedsores is to make sure that the person's adult diapers are changed every two hours.

[manitobasuntanner]

yes I kinow bedsores can be prevented, but if there is nobody to turn them bedsores can happen. Why arn't the family members doing it when the homes are understaffed that goes for feeding too.

[haileyalexis709]

It usually takes more then one person to turn the patient. Also, it has to be done in a certain way. Most hosptials and nursing homes have to follow a specific turning schedule which they should have posted in each room. If you don't follow that schedule that turning is going to do very little good. You don't just turn from side to side.

[manitobasuntanner]

Anyways I'm proud to say that I work at a very small nursing home,and we don't ever get pressure sores. Sometimes when they are sent to the hos. they come back with them and then we have to fix them up.

[haileyalexis709]

My response con'td:

The proper way of turning the patient is to physically lift them. If you use the blue chuck (which is put underneath them to keep the mattress dry) to turn the patient,, then you can cause a shearing of the skin which will start a bedsore or aggravate one which is already present.. It is not just turning them over, it is knowing how to do it properly.

[manitobasuntanner]

ok so are you saying to use a mechanical lift everytime they need to be turned or moved, because I don't know if you know this but there is a no lifting policy in most places. you get fired if caught lifting.

[haileyalexis709]

You can check my information because I may be wrong on this but I believe that the no lifting policy pertains to when there is only one nurses aide or tech available. The mechanical lift is supposed to be used only when they are putting the patient in a chair and then there are supposed to be two nurses aides or techs doing it even with the machine.

[haileyalexis709]

Again, if they tell you that they are understaffed that you tell them that is not your problem. Your problem is that you have to get your family member to recover. Tell them you will go to the administration of they don't do their jobs. They have to make your family member a priority. Bedsores are actionable by lawsuits.

[haileyalexis709]

It takes 5 minutes at the most to do this. Fifteen minutes if the person has to be changed and clean. There is absolutely no excuse for this to happen to anyone.

[barnaby20001953]

Why are patients not being changed and cleaned. The major reason is shortage of staff, lack of intervention by individuals, and the attitude that no one has the right to ask for care. This is what I found at a home in Sydney Nova Scotia. They did not know how long a person was up, how long before they were changed. What do you think a person would be like sitting in a chair not able to speak or fend for themselves.

[barnaby20001953]

I am just reading your comment regarding your daughter in a long term care facility in Sydney. Well I have a dear old friend in a nursing home here in Sydney and what has gone on regarding her care is unbelievable. I have gone to all government departments with regard to care etc. I even have taken photos of care and received letters stating this was not permitted and finally have been banned from this home for questioning care. In Nova Scotia the legislation is 33 years old where do we go.

[Hoopa7p]

If you have a daughter in a nursing home that is being abused and neglected and your lawyers have quit the case, then go to the public. Tell your story to the news media and the papers. If it is possible, get pictures of bedsores if she has them or tapes of any type of abuse you may suspect.

[MaximHealthCareSucks]

Keep up the good work.

[barnaby20001953]

I just got your email where you are interested in the membertou discussion. I have been contacting various parties to see if there is any support. You can reach me at 5623479