The 1987 Nursing Home Reform Act was established to protect the quality of life for residents of nursing homes and improve the quality of care provided by their caregivers.
Following are some of the rights and freedoms specified in the Residents’ Bill of Rights, one of the primary features of the NHRA:
The right to freedom from [...]
Democratic legislative leaders proposed new legislation this week that would more than double the minimum amount of hours of care per nursing home resident in the state of Connecticut. Currently, the state only requires 1.9 hours per resident daily, whereas the new plan wants nurses to provide at least 4.2 hours of care for each [...]
Once a common practice, the use of physical restraints has dropped 40 percent nationally in nursing homes over the past few years. Until a federal law in 1987 prohibited nursing homes from using restraints as a matter of convenience, restraints such as wheelchair belts and bed rails were a common procedure in many facilities. At [...]
In Lee, Florida, 12 of the 18 nursing homes have earned the best ratings for abuse and use of restraints according to the Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration. Ed Towey, spokesman for the Florida Health Care Association, stated that pressure sores and use of restraints are two of the biggest challenges facing nursing [...]
Chateau Sabelle, a San Mateo County Nursing Home in California, is under investigation after prosecutors claimed that the home failed to prevent a fist-sized ulcer in an 86-year-old resident. Maria Paredes, the 26-year-old primary care giver at the home, was found not guilty of causing the man’s death, but should have prevented the extreme pain [...]
A new law in Texas is encouraging families to form “councils” to advocate for elders in nursing homes. The councils are essentially an alliance of families who seek to improve conditions in a long-term care facility. Working as a united front, the councils promote better care by increasing family interaction with nursing home workers [...]
Even long before your loved one needs one, it’s best to start looking early to find reputable nursing homes and facilities. Using survey results and gathering information can be valuable tools in making your final decisions for your loved one’s new home. Mrs. Koperski, whose mother Florence just entered Elizabeth Scott’s assisted living facility, did [...]
There are conflicting reports over what actually happened to 65-year-old Virginia Hubbard, a resident at the Grande Oaks Nursing Home in Ohio. Virginia was recently discharged from the facility for failure to pay anything for the services she received for approximately a year and a half. Although the discharge may have been warranted, what allegedly [...]
The National Center on Elder Abuse has a comprehensive state-by-state list of elder abuse state laws, state agencies, data and statistics, and other resources. Follow this link for the directory listing, and click on each state to review state-specific information.
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Over the past several years, many nursing homes are attempting to escape liability for injuries or neglect by completely dropping their insurance coverage. For instance, information provided to the Oklahoma Center for Consumer & Patient Safety, shows that over 20 percent of the beds in Oklahoma reside in nursing homes that refuse to carry medical [...]