Violations Reported at 94% of Nursing Homes
WASHINGTON — More than 90 percent of nursing homes were cited for violations of federal health and safety standards last year, and for-profit homes were more likely to have problems than other types of nursing homes, federal investigators say in a report issued on Monday.
About 17 percent of nursing homes had deficiencies that caused “actual harm or immediate jeopardy” to patients, said the report, by Daniel R. Levinson, the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Problems included infected bedsores, medication mix-ups, poor nutrition and abuse and neglect of patients.
Inspectors received 37,150 complaints about conditions in nursing homes last year, and they substantiated 39 percent of them, the report said. About one-fifth of the complaints verified by federal and state authorities involved the abuse or neglect of patients.
About two-thirds of nursing homes are owned by for-profit companies, while 27 percent are owned by nonprofit organizations and 6 percent by government entities, the report said.
The inspector general said 94 percent of for-profit nursing homes were cited for deficiencies last year, compared with 88 percent of nonprofit homes and 91 percent of government homes.
“For-profit nursing homes had a higher average number of deficiencies than the other types of nursing homes,” Mr. Levinson said. “In 2007, for-profit nursing homes averaged 7.6 deficiencies per home, while not-for-profit and government homes averaged 5.7 and 6.3, respectively.”
On Monday, Mr. Levinson issued a compliance guide that says some nursing homes “have systematically failed to provide staff in sufficient numbers and with appropriate clinical expertise to serve their residents.”
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1 comment:
My mother in law lives in one of those upscale expensive nursing homes, the ones with the glamourous furniture and such but she is not taken care of the way she needs to be. The nurses aides their smell of garbage along with their attitudes.
I always complain to the nurses when I am there.. My motherin law is always soaken wet and never seems to have her teeth brushed as well as other things. I always get the same ole answer, Oh I dont work on the weekends, I am not here on the weekdays, I will make sure to see whats going on etc.. but nothing ever changes. Unfortunately since my brotherin law is the guardian over her, I cannot do anything and the only thing he says is, thats the way it is everywhere. Pathetic to say the least.
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