Leave and say nothing,or leave and report?

[eliseb]

I just recently worked for an assisted living home health care situation. The owners are not liscensed nurses, CNA's or LPN's. They are not recording medications given to residence and there are 5 residence there. They have no health histories and nothing ot offer for information on the residence. I was left ALONE for my training period. I was told by one owner that the ohter one does not like ot be called. They have such a high turn over rate that they are tired of repeating themselves and employees must find things on their own! There were 2 Altziemers residence. 1 was restrianed all day long and left to sit at t tabel crying. The other had weak knees and smelled very very bad . I found horrible red sores ready to open under her belly. She is over weight and has a huge crease under her belly where it is not exposed to any air. They were not doing anyting to treat this and it smelled awful. I found some protective lubricant for her and powder the owner was upset I was taking so long caring for her.I was not given breaks , no official schedual for the day. But responsible for showers, preparing and feeding 3 meals , doing dishes by hand, laundry, cleaning and disinfecting the house and equiptment ofcourse. and meanwhile, this other resident had fallen 2 times in the past and she was up and about who knows where at what time. Another resident fell when I was there alone. I was left alone for 3 days. 12 hour shifts. The firs day they were with mne 2 hours. The second day the other did her own thing for 2 hours and leftand forgot to give blood pressure before the meal and meds.? Another resident wanted psuedafed all day long and I found out she has congestive heart failure. She got short of breath and labored breathing and very fatigued one day, moody from dealing with this all, and at her wits end in discomfort. She was pale and the owner told me to just ignore her , she is ok, She is overly needy she said. She told me this over and over and over and over. No record of how many Psuedafeds she had been taking. When I mentioned this , the owner said , we know? I todl her again if somebody new walks in , they do not know and you can not rely on what the resident says . Another resident FELL , I was alone and could not get her up by myself and needed help by the owner? She ran off after helping and not even tyring ot find out why she fell? Later I discoverd there was NO BRAKE on one wheel of her walker. The resident told me that somebody had been there to check her walker weeks before , but did not have the part and would have to be ordered to fix this break and they still left her wiht this walker. This resident was here at assisted living DUE TO A FALL and breaking her left hip?

Is this all Alarming or what? Their is more , but this was the most shocking. I am not from here, I am from Washington State. Is this NORMAL for Alaska and should I just stay out of thier business and not report? Also the owner told me not to tell the family members of anyting wrong. such as the rashes. Also this owner was telling me to NOt CHECK the temperature of the water while bathing? She said there is NO TIME??!!! (???) ( how long does it take to dip your hand in water to check temperature? ) My resident said her shower water was a little cool , I merely dipped my hand to check and the owner kept repeating to me to NOT listen to teh resident?

Also the lady wiht Congestive Heart Failure had a cat in her room and her room smelled of cat feces and urine. It was my responsibility to clean the cat box. This job was demanding that I focus on the house, 6 loads of laundry per day and cooking more than catering to the residence?

AGAIN, am I not suppose to be shocked at this or what? I am no longer working there. But if something serious would have happened would I have been blamed and my CNA liscense at risk? I am a CNA studying for LPN and I know better? Where can I find rules and regulations for home health care.? I would rather get a copy of these rules and bring them to this woman and point some things out to her rather than report? Is one person enough for residence with Altizemer's and Heart failiure ? 5 residence? My grandmother had Altziemer's and she could walk out the door and get lost at any time? Isn't there more supervision required with Altziemer's?

I was lead to believe that I was going to be following and observing and assisting the first 3 hours of the first day, instead I did this 2 hours and then left alone . My 3 hours of training turned into 8 hours of work. I was also asked to stay an extra hour suddenly at 7:00pm when my shift ends at 8pm my first official day of work. I had a babysitter and could not do this? I did not want to take advantage of my babysitter? aNd my daughter had been babysat for 12 hours that day? Just ridiculous?

It is very mismanaged and the owner is inconsiderate , should I just leave and say nothing ? Or leave and report? Or send her a copy of Home health care rules. Either way, I want to see these rules and regulations for myself. Are these rules strictly enforced in Alaska?

[jmgrn65, RN]

this is a no brainer... report them asap!

[eliseb]

Thank you , but I am concerned about the fact that these people have been in business for 15 years? How can this be? And how can a person own a home health care busines if htey are only PCA's? I do not understand this at all? Nurse Practitioner are coming to visit and family members. Why haven't they noticed anyof this? Also , an RN from the home health agency in charge came to visit and she was new and did not know that her resident had a blood CLOT in her arm. ?? How can this be? And what information could I give this RN concerning this person if there is no health history at hand? I mean REAL DUMB? Do you know whre I can find rules and regulations for Home HEalth Care? With this information. What do you think will happen to the owners? Will they lose the home health care? Be fined? Be required to get liscensed? ANd in this situation, who is responsible for not assuring the walker one of hte residence using is functional and safe? The agency that came to check the walker or the home health care.Also, as I observed the owner bathing a 92 year old resident, she was scrubbing her like she was handwashing a pair of diryt old blue jeans.y jeans. Just grinding away at her skin.

[Dakkon76]

Ask yourself what you would want done if your family member was there... or if you were there. Your commitment is to the patient, not the organization. Not to report them pretty much violates anything a nurse stands for in my opinion.

[caliotter3]

Reports of abuse, (i.e scrubbing the pt's skin raw) can be reported to Adult Protective Services or to law enforcement auth, but this report is to occur within 24 hrs after witnessing it (at least in my state). As far as home hlth regs, don't worry about that. Just take everything you wrote about in your posts, write it down in a factual, not emotional manner, and send it to both Adult Protective Services and the state licensing authorities. You can find the state authorities listed in the govt section of your phone book. They might only list an 800 number, if so, request a complaint form. It is better to get an address for them, and just mail your complaint directly. The sooner you do this, the better.

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

You should also be aware that you, as a nurse, are a mandatory reporter in all 50 states---that means you MUST report this "facility" to the proper authorities, or risk sanctions against your own license. To walk away and do nothing, when you know how unsafe and unsanitary the conditions are---not to mention the allegation of "care" that borders on the abusive---is equal in the eyes of the law to saying it's OK for people to be treated this way.

Do not pass GO, do not collect two hundred dollars........document everything that you personally have seen and report this facility to the state's Senior and Disabled Services agency IMMEDIATELY. You can also call the office of the Long-term Care Ombudsman (or whoever performs this function where you live) and ask them to investigate as well.

Good luck to you, and especially to the residents of this pathetic excuse for a care home. You all are going to need it.

[Franksters]

Sounds like a torture chamber to me. Please REPORT them NOW!! Would you want your family members in a place like this?

[Jo Dirt]

If it is as bad as you say, sounds like they need a visit from some authorities to help them learn how to run their business.

[ohmeowzer RN, RN]

turn them into the state quickly and call the ombudsman.. how horrible these helpless poeple have to suffer because the owners laziness and neglience. the owners need to be locked up for abuse

[NickiLaughs, ADN, BSN, RN]

You need to report them. Nothing will change for these elderly people if they are not reported. If you don't look out for them, who will?

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

Report. Now.

[prmenrs, RN]

Let's hope it was reported, cuz this thread is >1yr old.