A recent article notes that a top state prosecutor is supporting the placement of cameras in nursing homes residents' rooms to protect them. Read the full article here. While residents would obviously have the right to object for privacy matters, the idea seems like one that would add another level of security to our most vulnerable segment in society. The article also notes from Wes Bledsoe, founder of "A Perfect Read More

Yet another bill has been introduced to try to cap non-economic and punitive damages when nursing home residents and their families attempt to hold nursing homes accountable for abuse and neglect. Read the full article here. The article reiterates what the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid has found in the quality of care in this nation's nursing homes and summarizes the outrage that should be present over such a Read More

An Itasca-area nursing home called The Arbor of Itasca has been sued after an 89-year-old woman, who suffered from dementia, was found frozen to death in the nursing home courtyard. Read the full article here. According to the coroner, the woman was outside for at least 90 minutes. Her family noted that she wasn't even able to leave her bed without assistance and doesn't understand how staff allowed her to slip out Read More

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS") has just launched "Nursing Home Compare" which provides quality ratings for each of the nation’s 16,000 Medicare and/or Medicaid-certified nursing homes. The rating system is a five-star system based on health inspection results, quality measures, and staffing levels and an overall rating is also provided. Visit the rating system here. CMS suggests using these Read More

A former nursing home director was sentenced to 19 months in prison and 3 years of probation for neglecting a 60-year-old woman. For the full article, click here. According to the article, the resident was in agony for 5 days before staff called an ambulance. Apparently, aides had dropped the resident while moving her into her bed. Unbelievably, the nurse waited 5 days before ordering X-rays: despite multiple Read More

Some Illinois County coroners would like to see a new law requiring nursing homes to report every death for investigation into potential abuse or neglect. For the full article, click here. According to the article, the Illinois State Department of Public Health conducted a pilot project in 10 Illinois counties over the course of a year to determine whether a policy to investigate nursing home deaths by a coroner Read More

Desperate to learn the truth, the family of an 84-year-old resident of a Kentucky nursing home hid a video camera in the resident's room after discovering dozens of bruises all over her body and not receiving satisfactory answers from the staff. Read the full article here. The videotape captured the staff "pulling the resident out of bed by her wrists and neck," and "roughly moving the resident from side to side," Read More

An Arizona nursing home was found with more than two dozen violations and has agreed to pay the State $17,500 in civil penalties as a result notes the Arizona Daily Star. According to the article, among the violations noted, including a failure to protect its elderly residents from sexual abuse, state inspectors found that the home also failed to timely note that a resident suffered a seizure, fell and was Read More