Nursing Assistant Resources On The Web

Last week I pointed to an article about a nursing home under fire for not conducting resident head counts. Here is an update.

MARION - State health officials want to place a nursing home’s license on probation in connection with the accidental death last month of a resident with Alzheimer’s disease.

The Indiana State Department of Health also wants Bradner Village Health Care Center to hire a registered nurse consultant and a licensed administrator consultant for 40 hours per week, the agency said Monday.

Nursing home staff found the body of Clarence B. Elliott, 76, about 3 a.m. on Feb. 15 outside a locked door of the home on a night when temperatures fell below zero. An autopsy determined the cause of death was hypothermia.

Following a survey days after Elliott’s death, the health department charged Bradner Village with violating state rules. The survey found the home had failed to watch Elliott over a five-hour period on the night of Feb. 14 and failed to prevent his unsupervised exit from the building into a snow-covered courtyard.

A certified nursing assistant responsible for the 10 p.m. bed check did not enter Elliott’s room, which was in the secure area of the home, according to the report. A second assistant responsible for a bed check two hours later entered every room but Elliott’s, the report said.

Bradner Village has made several corrections, including firing two employees, Eric Walts, part owner and executive administrator of Bradner Village, had said previously. It also installed a video surveillance system and a second alarm on the doors Elliott used to leave, he had said.

The Associated Press left a message Tuesday with nursing home administrators requesting comment on the case.

Apparently the aides didn’t actually check to see if Mr. Elliot was actually in his bed. They were fired for this. I say others should go to in all this. Aides always pay the first price and often it’s due to poor supervision, poor instruction from superiors, a lack of policy. In this I feel terrible for the staff. What they must be going through right now.