Elder Abuse

[Anonymous]

If you are going to keep her at a facility 2 hours away, hire an outside person to come and visit her at night and be there for this process. The staff doesn't need to now it's not another grand daughter, but they'll know they have someone watching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are getting this off your chest?? WTF -- call the police. Are you that dense?

[Anonymous]

Most states have a Medicaid Fraud Control Division that often also investigates abuse in nursing homes. I would look that up and also file a complaint there or ask where you can file a complaint to request an investigation, possibly your county's Adult Protective Services.

[Anonymous]

Don't be so quick to call the State. You probably want to move your GM to another home. That will take time and she has to be accepted -- speaking from experience. (You will not change their standards)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most states have a Medicaid Fraud Control Division that often also investigates abuse in nursing homes. I would look that up and also file a complaint there or ask where you can file a complaint to request an investigation, possibly your county's Adult Protective Services.

+1 If the director doesn't respond it take your concerns seriously then I would call adult protective services and they will tell you how to go about filing a complaint against the nursing home. The nursing home is required by the state to meet requirements for appropriate care of their residents.

[Anonymous]

Ummm...homes talk to each other. If you have a rep as a complaining family they won't take you.

[Anonymous]

OP, we have a ground floor room she could stay in. I'm not a nurse so I can't do nursing type things but I am home all day and I can help with basics like getting her to the toilet and dressing etc. I know that's a bit crazy since you don't know us but it's better than leaving her where she is IMO.

[Anonymous]

What state? There are resources in Maryland I can point you to.

You can also hire someone locally to advocate/check on her on a more regular basis since you are so far away. It's not 100% preventive of bad care, but it can help.

[Anonymous]

thanks. the police said that it isn't a police or criminal issue. I spoke with the leder abuse people. Very nice but because the incident involved equipment, they see it as failure to use equipment properly and a retraining issue. Apparently a certain level of distress, pain and hurting is acceptable when it is related to health care. The woman compared it to "getting a bruise or having pain from having blood taken" and that some people just aren't great at their job. Basically she told me that compared to what she has seen and been able to charge, this doesn't even register. She did tell me to put up security cameras.

I spoke with the government level complaint department and they 'filed the complaint" and I should hear back from someone to get the details in 3 business days.

I spoke with the director of the facility and they are 'investigating' and will set up a meeting for next week to discuss what they found.

It is very hard to move her due to her finances and places that are in our budget. facilities only make room in case of a 'crisis' and this apparently doesn't constitute a crisis.

Right now, we are trying to just have family with her but we can't sustain that long term. Thanks to the PP for the kind offer, she needs a great deal of equipment to move about so unfortunately a home is very impractical. I am consdering trying to get the equipment to have her move in with us but I don't have an extra room - plus I have stairs so she would be housebound.

[Anonymous]

There are often independent ombudsmen assigned to nursing homes. Ask for the ombudsman's contact info--he or she will want to investigate and look for signs of systemic abuse.

[Anonymous]

Nanny cams are a good idea. Post things online if the facility and the police and the investigators all seem to think it's acceptable -- I bet they will change their tune when it's seen on Youtube.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are often independent ombudsmen assigned to nursing homes. Ask for the ombudsman's contact info--he or she will want to investigate and look for signs of systemic abuse.

This! One of my friends is the ombudsman for some nursing homes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ummm...homes talk to each other. If you have a rep as a complaining family they won't take you.

That is true, but sometimes a home looking to pass off a patient with a complaining family conveniently leaves that part out, and says the patient has 'family support.'