no more warning before inspections

[canoehead]

House OKs bill to penalize nursing home tipsters

01/28/2004

Associated Press

Tipping off a nursing home of an impending state inspection would become a felony under a bill that sailed through the Kentucky House on Wednesday.

All inspections of long-term care facilities by the Cabinet for Health Services are to be unannounced.

"Only by ensuring the integrity of the long-term care and nursing home inspection process will we ever be able to ensure the safety of the residents there," said Rep. Kathy Stein, D-Lexington, the bill's sponsor.

The bill, which passed 94-0, now heads to the Senate.

It would make it a felony to intentionally inform a long-term care facility of an impending inspection. A conviction could carry a prison sentence of one to five years. Offenders also would face civil penalties of $5,000 to $10,000 for each offense.

Tipping off a nursing home became an issue in an investigation of former Gov. Paul Patton because Tina Conner, a former nursing home operator with whom Patton had a two-year affair, claimed someone in Patton's office alerted her to an inspection. Patton denied it.

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[Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN]

I don't think there is a nursing home in the country that could pass a surprise inspection. But, does it matter?

Even when they have serious deficiencies over and over again, there are no consequences or improvments made in most LTC facilities.

[Blackcat99]

Where I live the nursing homes call the other nursing homes immediately when an inspector arrives. If I was an inspector, I would arrive on the week-ends after 10:00 pm. It seems every nursing home I've ever worked in was always short of staff on the week-ends. :angryfire Of course, when they know the inspectors are coming then there is an overabundance of staff everywhere. :angryfire

[leslie :-D]

Where I live the nursing homes call the other nursing homes immediately when an inspector arrives. If I was an inspector, I would arrive on the week-ends after 10:00 pm. It seems every nursing home I've ever worked in was always short of staff on the week-ends. :angryfire Of course, when they know the inspectors are coming then there is an overabundance of staff everywhere. :angryfire

isn't that the truth! and all that sucking up is dangerous as i'm this close to vomiting in someone's face.

[GLORIAmunchkin72]

State depts. can make surprise inspections anytime they want to. If they decided to really crack down a lot of nursing homes would be closing their doors and a lot of residents would be sitting on the sidewalks because a lot of them do not have families or have families who are not able to care for them.

[Philo]

We had an unannounced visit from JCHAO. You do know that soon it will be that way with all hospitals?

As far as nursing homes, I'd love to be on the inspection team. I'd be fining people left and right.

You'd love to inspect a nursing home? Try working in one first and see how difficult the work is with you the Charge Nurse being soley responsible for the physical and psychological well being of 48 elderly patients with the mind set of two year olds; without immediate access to a supervisor or doctor to consult with in a crises. The only problem I see in nursing homes in the state mandated nurse to patient ratio. The 7-3 shift each nurse has 8 patients which all have to be showered,dressed and diapered; oh yeah 6 of the 8 have to be fed breakfast and lunch by that nurse. 3-11 shift each nurse has 12 patients which have to be fed, and put to bed and lets not forget they have to change their diapers every two hours because they're all incontinent. 11-7 shift each nurse has 24 patients and out of the 24, 20 have to be turned every two hours and all diapered every four.

In the nursing homes I've worked in we've always pass our inspections with minor infractions usually paperwork related or building cosmetics. Never never never have I been in a place where patient care or safety has been an issue. Our assesment skills are tops because we don't have a doctor to run to down the hall to, the doctor relies totally on us to give a accurate assesment of what's going on so they can do their doctoring over the phone.

Most of the nurses that come from the hospital to work in nursing homes do not last because there are no crutches to lean on. You are it, top dog calling all the shots in a crises and our nursing assistants are our right arm, we charge nurses rely on them to be able to reconize when a patient is in a potential crises. They know what to do and what equipment we need to asses a patient in a crises.

The world seem to always bad mouth nursing homes and I find the ones that do have never had the opportunity to work in one. By the way our decubitus usually come from the hospitals and we are the ones to heal them. The dehydration issue is a myth when we send a patient to the hospital and they can't find anything wrong they bill for dehydration so they can get paid. You can check the tugor and renal function of all 48 of my patients and you'll find they are all WNL.

Try walking in our shoes before you go throwing out fines.

p.s. We're all LVN's there's only one RN on the day shift because the state says there has to be.

[tiroka03, LPN]

I've done an 180 degree turn in my thinking. I used to work in a hospital were we were held to very high standards. No one left our unit consitpated, dirty or a mess. We recieved pts in horrid conditions from nursing homes. So the conception was correct in my old area of substandard care in LTC facilities.

Then, I moved and started working in a nursing home.

First of all the amount of work laid on the nurses is staggering. Second the hospitals in my new area are always sending people who haven't had a bm in 3 to 4 days or more. Seems like the opposite here.

I don't think all nursing homes are bad, or all hospitals are bad. I have seen both sides and understand the prediciments of both sides. There are good and bad nurses in most every place. I quesse the big question is, Are you willing to go the extra mile,or not, as a nurse.

[CHATSDALE]

Hospitals in our area have three favorite dx...constipation, uti, and dehydration--they come home with decu because they are never turned or gotten up out of the bed....frequently they are not even fed---once when we got this new admit from a hospital she was unable to feed herself but was always begging for food...she said that at the hospital we admitted her from the aide brought in the food and set it in front of her, later they would come in and take it away and no one ever fed her..turns out she had a small stroke that left her with weakened limbs...eventually gained ability to fed self after several weeks...

[purple_angel24521]

i really wish state would come when no one knew, then they would see how things really are, as far as staff. i work in a nursing home, and we are always short, but not when state comes, we always have plently of staff, it makes me sick