They dropped my mother head first

Published

I'm an Lpn working in a local nursing home 2 days a week. I watch my son the rest of the time while my spouse works. My mother is a resident in the facility where I work. She went in there about a month after I started working at this place. This was about 18 months ago. At that time, I though it was a pretty good home. It's gradually gotten worse as time went by. My mother is a paraplegic for 35 years. She requires a Hoyer lift to get in and out of bed. She has all her faculties, but her body has just betrayed her. Paralysis and old age are a terrible combination. She's 73 now, but to look at her, you'd swear she was 93. She's told me more than a few times the CNA's have transferred her by pulling her on a towel. one person has also ran the lift when the rules call for two. They say they have to do this, because they're short handed and it saves time. My father used to go there and spend 8-10 hours a day with her. They never did this when he was there, only on the days he couldn't make it in. He contracted C-diff( which I suspect he picked up at the Nursing home). He has been ill for several months and doesn't drive now. Since he's not there and I can't get there during the week, they do what they want. They talk her into staying in bed many days. Telling her they might not have enough staff on nights to get her back in bed. Anything to get out and have a smoke. Some of them brag that they smoke 8 a shift. That's on an hour. She get's very fearful and they play on this. I've told a few of the cna's about this. I didn't go to management because I knew they would do nothing and I have to work there. Even though I work on another hall, it would cause problems. I know I was wrong not to report them. I have also looked the other way several times while working there. I have never covered anything up,

but I have been aware of several things that were.

This leads us to the incident. The other day My mother was being transferred with the hoyer lift. They said there were two CNA's present. She went out of the sling backwards and hit the floor head first. I honestly do not know how this could happen with two CNA's following proper procedures. One person on the lift, the other steadiing the patient in the sling. If the straps were not hooked properly, once you lift then 2 inches you would know. You could then put them back down. She was rushed to the hospital. She has a subdural hematoma and many bumps and bruises. It's a miracle she didn't break her neck. They say she will recover. I'm having her transferred to another nursing home when she's discharged. I called th Dept of health on them. They did an investigation. Surprise, they found nothing wrong. Management probably told them exactly what to write in their incident reports and nurses notes. i have seen this done many times. I went to the home today and got all of her belongings. I thought I was going to vomit just walking in there. I was supposed to work tommorrow. I'm quitting without notice. I doubt they want me there anyway after calling the state on them. I feel like working there all this time, knowing the way things were, I have been partly responsible for what happened to my mother. I used to tell myself, at least I was there trying to give the residents good care.

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Specializes in LTC.

That is horrible, I agree to get out of there as fast as you can. I hope your mother recovers. Good for you for calling state to bad they didn't find anything though. Someone else may get hurt. I work in LTC and if I ever caught one of the aids using the hoyer with out 2 people they would be written up on the spot. Hope you find a better facility.

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this is such a sad story. i am very sorry. i work at a retirement community and actually today we had our annual HIPAA and other patient rights mandatory meeting and one example that the nursing home director spoke about was one person moving a patient when the plan calls for two. this is a form of neglect! also, telling your mother that they are short staffed is something that should not have been done as it causes unwanted fear for her and any other resident. if i were you, i would make sure they know of the past instances that this neglect happened. it's too bad the supervisor didn't catch this sooner in order to prevent this from happening. i wish you and your family the best.

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Specializes in Public Health, TB.

Signet---

I am so sorry for what your family has endured. Please do not blame yourself, it sounds like you made many efforts to help your mom. I am very surprised that the state did come down hard on that place. Have you considered contacting a lawyer? This sounds like it could be considered negligence or even criminal behavior--by threatening your mom that she might not get the care she needs if she doesn't cooperate! If you don't want to contact a lawyer I suggest you contact your state's long term care ombudsman--every state is required to have one. Here is a link:

http://www.ltcombudsman.org/static_pages/ombudsmen.cfm

I hope everything turns out okay for you and your family.

J

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In Tennessee, when there is an accident where the patient requires hospitalization, the FACILITY is the one who is required by law to report it to the state.

I know accidents happen but in your case it sounds like it was an accident waiting to happen.

I'm also annoyed about the smoke breaks. I don't smoke and...ahh, that's just another topic altogether.

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Specializes in Did the job hop, now in MS. Not Bad!!!!!.

Signet

I am so sorry to hear of this. And hrorified to read it as well. You are doing the right thing and I'm so glad your mom is recovering from this. May it be a lesson (and a warning) to us all.

:icon_hug:

Chloe

RN-BSN, BA

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If this did turn into a legal issue, I just have to wonder... you pretty well know that there were not 2 people in that room...sooo, who on earth would voluntarily say that they were the second person, just to protect the facility??? I don't know anyone that loyal!!!!

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Specializes in Geritatrics/Rehab.

Hi, I'm new here and your tread title caught my attention.

I also work in a LTC facility, I work on one of the rehab floors as a charge nurse.

I'm terribly sorry for what you and your family are going through, good for you for calling the state, unfortunately that's not always enough, but at least you tried. I've worked in this same facility for 22+ years and I believe it's one of the good ones, but it's definitely not without it's problems, short staffing being one of them. But, let me tell you, if I ever caught one of my aides using the hoyer alone there'd be hell to pay for sure, no matter how much staff in on the floor! I just don't see how your mom could have gotten hurt this way if there were the required 2 assists there.

I pray she recovers and that you find a great home for her, one that both you and your mom are comfortable with!

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Specializes in Geritatrics/Rehab.
If this did turn into a legal issue, I just have to wonder... you pretty well know that there were not 2 people in that room...sooo, who on earth would voluntarily say that they were the second person, just to protect the facility??? I don't know anyone that loyal!!!!

Unfortunately it doesn't always come down to loyalty, people need thier jobs and if pressured will say what the admistrations wants them too. I have a harder time believing an adm would make someone lie, then believeing someone would lie to keep thier job.

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Wow. For an incident like that, the facility would need to contact the state too. I, too, have a feeling they covered stuff up.

I would contact the ombudsman and see what they can do. Would you be willing to see an attorney on this? There really is no way that if they were using the lift correctly with two people..she should/ wouild fall out of this machine. Now...because of their neglegence...you mother was hurt and among other things..you have a hospital bill to pay for.

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Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

First let me say how sorry I am that this happened to your mom. It's horrible. Secondly, if anything like this happened in MY facility I would have reported it to the state. I report everything...if someone falls and goes to the hospital and comes back with nothing broken --I report that. We have had accidents in which the CNA was doing what they were supposed to do and the patient still fell. Yep, reported that. I don't know of any CNA who would lie for a co-worker...yeah sure they'd lie for themselves but not for someone else. And it this state,it is impossible to think that administration could tell the DPH anything other than the truth. They are one tough bunch and no one I know would dare lie to them.

Good luck finding a better place for your mom to live and a better place to work.

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We report any incident requiring a trip to the hospital to the state...either your rules are different or something isn't right. I'm so sorry this happened to your mom...I realize that accidents happen, but there is no excuse for this one...it really wasn't an accident...it was negligence. We require two staff any time a mechanical lift is used...we even require that the position of the lift sling be checked by two people before the resident is lifted (like if I go in and position the sling before the second person gets there...they check the sling before the resident is lifted). I hope for the best for your mom...and for your dad and you too!

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