Holy cow - what are people thinking

Published

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060130/NEWS01/601300433&SearchID=73234268200025

Demented pt wanders out of nursing home, freezes to death, and according to the lawsuit filed by his family, staff tried to cover up the cause of death. Thank goodness that there are wonderful nurses and aides doing the grueling work of LTC every day, but then there are these dufuses.

When I saw the title I thought....oh more info on the Pittsburgh case. Wow. Sadly it wasn't, it was another death. Even with staffing low, you still hear an alarm go off. (If it was activated or all doors had one)

The sick part of this...why didn't any of the staff say NO. I will not try to cover up a death!

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Specializes in Case Management.
Wow. Do people honestly think that an autopsy is not going to reveal that the person froze to death and death was not from some other cause?

I mean, they are just so smart now a days, and science just reveals everything.

You can't cover something like that up. Tissue will reveal that it was frozen....I don't know exactly how, but I'm sure it would.

That is exactly what happened with the Pittsburgh case. Pt elopes outside, no one noticed, after being found dead outside she was brought back in and put back to bed and then it was reported that she died. The administrator was caught in the cover-up. She periodically resurfaces in the news when she has to ask the judge if she can take another gambling trip to Atlantic City!

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gr8...Haven't heard much about her lateley. She's probably excited that we might get casinos in town:rolleyes:

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So sad, The facility I work at is located several hundred feet away from railroad tracks. Recently (I wasn't on duty that evening, thank God).. A resident from an A.L.F. not far from our Skilled Nursing faciltiy, got out wandering and got hit and killed by that train.. It was very traumatic for the staff where I work that witnessed it and could not get to her in time, and also the owner of the A.L.F. who arrived just after the accident. I feel so bad for the family.. Although we have wander gaurds on our residents that are a risk for wandering.. it is always a fear that someday it will be one of ours that gets hit by a train.

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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

Same story happened in Pa 1-2years ago. After watching CSI, wouldn't try tampering with evidence!

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First, I am NOT saying the facility was not at fault in this case. But a word of caution must be spoken. We (the public, not just nurses) really need to keep in mind that this story was printed in the media. The media, in my experience, is not always extremely concerned with getting their facts 100% before printing. The reporter most likely interviewed the family, who are understandably upset and angry over the incident. The facility cannot, without violating HIPPA laws, comment on their investigation of the facts.

Anyone who has ever read a story like this should keep in mind that we are hearing ONE side, reported by the media.

During the trial, the facts will emerge and the story may end up being a little different. We may never see THAT article, however.

If the staff and facility did, indeed, attempt to cover up this incident they should be punished appropriately. But before final judgement can be passed, there has to be more investigation and all the facts need to be considered.

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dian57. A little bit of me agrees..the media does blow these things up, but a large part of me knows and sees what goes on in LTC.

Hey, we have residents who disarm the door alarms or takes off their wandergards or finds other ways to get around our safety system, no matter what we do or try. Yes they are needing a locked facilty (but you can't force the family or resident to transfer if they don't want to)

On the other hand, I've seen door alarms taped to off, so that staff can prop a door open and smoke on hot days. I've also seen 2 CNA and one nurse on 11-7 running their buts off during full moons when the residents are literally jumping and falling out of bed, wandering around etc. You can't be everywhere at once.

This stuff happens. If the facility does everything they can to prevent it, okay. Might be hard to accept, but accidents do happen.

Now covering it up.............thats a whole different issue. Its criminal. The Pittsburg case was aweful and it sounds like this one was too.

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