NH Nursing Home/Editorial
Posted by Patti on April 13th, 2006 / Print This Post
The Concord (NH) Monitor has an editorial about the recent NH nursing home problem:
Belknap County Nursing Home has an excellent reputation, but last month, state inspectors found so many deficiencies in patient care that the home was told it was in “immediate jeopardy” of losing its Medicaid eligibility. Since 2002, the state has issued 18 “immediate jeopardy”warnings affecting 16 of New Hampshire’s 82 nursing homes.Many of Belknap’s problems stemmed from poor record-keeping, but others were more serious. Too often, patients were not given their medicine on schedule. Some missed doses or got the wrong medicine. Bedsores went unreported or did not receive proper treatment. Fire codes in some areas weren’t followed, nor were dietary recommendations.
The nursing home is correcting the deficiencies, and its “immediate jeopardy” status has been lifted. But how did a good facility go bad so fast? There’s no single answer, but high turnover and a lack of leadership appear to be responsible.
Most nursing homes have three priority positions: administrator, nursing supervisor and director of social services. Belknap had changes in all three positions in rapid succession and a long vacancy between one nursing supervisor and the next.
Regular use of fill-in nurses contributed to the poor care. Unlike staff nurses, they know neither the patient nor the practices and culture of the home. They are also expensive. The difference in patient care is great enough that the marketing materials of some nursing homes boast that they are “agency free.”
Yeah…but not too many nursing homes can say they are “agency free” now. There is a HUGE problem with staffing- both nurses and aides. The pay isn’t great for aides and nurses in LTC make far less than nurses who work in a hospital setting.
Read the rest of this editorial—>