Comments on: Balancing Roomates’ Rights

By: Frances Shani Parker

Frances Shani Parker — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 08:11:11 +0000

Speaking of roommates and balancing their rights, there is also the concern of registered sex offenders being placed among vulnerable nursing home populations. States have broad discretion on how to implement notification of sex offenders. Nursing home administrators are not always aware of sex offenders’ previous convictions. Even when they are, due to the Privacy Rule, they are often not sure if they can share that information with others. Known sex offenders are usually evaluated on their demonstrated behavior and not separated from other residents.

Hospice and Nursing Homes Blog

By: Patti

Patti — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 03:33:14 +0000

Single/Private rooms would take care of this issue.

And that’s a bog part of culture change. Let’s hope we can get there though. I have my doubts.

By: Frances Shani Parker

Frances Shani Parker — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 07:52:39 +0000

I am a hospice volunteer in Detroit nursing homes. Several of my patients have shared rooms with three other patients, some in varying stages of dementia. It is difficult enough being terminally ill under these circumstances.

If federal law guarantees the right of residents to communicate privately and without restriction with chosen people, including with conjugal visits, the facility must make arrangements to allow private visits. This should also be an important consideration for culture change in nursing home reform.

By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 03:31:05 +0000

This is hard. I agree that it us tough to have a roomate whose husband does these things. Can’t the nurese talk to him and let him know how unappropiate this is? Or the DON.

Reading the answer gave me a bad taste though, too:
“We suggest that you try again to resolve the matter and, if you can’t, we suggest that you contact the long-term care ombudsman and file a grievance or, as a last resort, move your mother to another facility that “keeps a lid” on patients’ rights of this nature.”

That term, keeps a lid, shows this person doesn’t respect these rights too much. But I have to say, is it the residents right or her husbands rights here??

We used to have a lady who was totally bedbound. She was a total care and huge. Demented. Non verbal..her husband would come by every other Sunday and take her home for hte day. His sons would lift her into a wheelchair and then into the truck. When she was retutned to us it was pretty obvious what had gone on at home- sexual relations. We always felt this was a form of abuse because she could not tell anyone if she wanted this. No one ever spoke to her husband though, and this contiued for months until she passed away. The man was old and retarded- he barely spoke, couldn’t drive, had a history and a criminal record. I wonder how it would go over now a days.