http://www.thestar.com/news...dent-with-broken-leg

quote For 24 days, Sylvia Bailey screamed in pain from an untreated broken leg in her Niagara-on-the-Lake nursing home. Nearly every day, Bailey’s daughter, Alison Hegarty, begged the home to X-ray her mother’s left leg for a fracture, knowing she had fallen from her wheelchair four times in the past year, hitting the floor so hard she had a permanent dent in her forehead. Staff at Niagara Region’s Upper Canada Lodge refused to get an X-ray, making a series of mistakes that sent 75-year-old Bailey into a downward spiral that ended with her death on March 30. The home could have done better, said Dominic Ventresca, director of seniors’ services for the municipality of Niagara Region, which runs Upper Canada Lodge and seven other nursing homes. Eighty residents live at Upper Canada Lodge. “In the end, Alison was correct that it was a fracture and in the end, we have to acknowledge that,” Ventresca said. “No home is perfect. They made a mistake in this case, but it was not through a lack of effort.”

So refusal to examine someone isn't the same as lack of effort. Good to know.

quote Hegarty told a nurse her mother was fine the day before and suggested her leg may be broken. She asked for an X-ray. The following night, Hegarty’s friend brought Bailey’s favourite meal, fish and chips, but she ignored the food and cried. Hegarty said she asked staff again to X-ray her mother but they said it was just arthritis. Staff put heat gel on her knee. To treat what they thought was arthritis, the home gave Bailey physiotherapy sessions, three days in a row, twisting her legs until the screams became unbearable. Then they gave her Tylenol. Her mother’s doctor was away on vacation. Hegarty asked staff to get their on-call doctor to order an X-ray. Nothing happened. Bailey cried so hard, every day, that the home had her assessed for dementia.

quote Originally posted by Formula88: *snip*

If that was anyone of my family, I would be shooting someone. There's no reason for any of what they did.

quote Originally posted by Rallaster: If that was anyone of my family, I would be shooting someone. There's no reason for any of what they did.

There's more at the link. I have to agree with you.
Effectively they tortured her for nearly a month until she died from complications resulting from the torture. (Sepsis from the untreated break)

I'm pretty sure if it were a family member of mine, after the first day or so there would be an X-ray, violence, or I'd be in jail. Possibly a combination of the three.
But she was already old, so no one will care.

What a horrible way to die. She probably welcomed death just to make the pain stop.
Whoever is in charge of that facility should have their leg broken, then undergo a month of physiotherapy before having the break treated.

[This message has been edited by Formula88 (edited 07-23-2011).]

Similar happened to my Granny Walker in a Nursing home...
Ok well I guess it was not that similar.. In her case, the orderly was BEATING her at night!!!
He broke her leg 3 times, her arm twice.. before my Uncle Bill finally caught him doing it and beat the ever loving snot out of him. By then it was too late though. Granny passed away not much longer. She had told us this was happening, we mentioned it to staff, they told us she was crazy, nothing was happening.. and her bruises were normal for her condition.

quote Originally posted by 8Ball: Similar happened to my Granny Walker in a Nursing home... Ok well I guess it was not that similar.. In her case, the orderly was BEATING her at night!!! He broke her leg 3 times, her arm twice.. before my Uncle Bill finally caught him doing it and beat the ever loving snot out of him. By then it was too late though. Granny passed away not much longer. She had told us this was happening, we mentioned it to staff, they told us she was crazy, nothing was happening.. and her bruises were normal for her condition.

Holy crap! I'm glad your uncle caught the rat bastard. I hope the POS has to eat through a tube for the rest of his long, miserable life - in a nursing home being cared for by someone just like him.

I am SO grateful we had my parents in a good nursing home. Most of the staff was really awesome and cared about what they were doing. I would like to think my parent's experience is the norm and these bad experiences are rare, but you just don't know.

quote Originally posted by Formula88: There's more at the link. I have to agree with you. Effectively they tortured her for nearly a month until she died from complications resulting from the torture. (Sepsis from the untreated break) I'm pretty sure if it were a family member of mine, after the first day or so there would be an X-ray, violence, or I'd be in jail. Possibly a combination of the three. But she was already old, so no one will care. What a horrible way to die. She probably welcomed death just to make the pain stop. Whoever is in charge of that facility should have their leg broken, then undergo a month of physiotherapy before having the break treated.

Just read the article.. Yeah, someone would have died. That's in-humane and I would have flipped out and probably killed more than a few "caregivers" in that nursing home.

The nursing home staff cannot be excused, but, I have to ask,

Why, OH why, didn't she just load her Mom in the car and take her to an Emergency Room? Insurance or not, coverage or not, whatever, or not, if a member of my family is in pain and I'm convinced they need treatment, I'm going to see they get it. Incompotent, heartless, or just plain mean, staff will not stand in my way.

quote Originally posted by Formula88: Holy crap! I'm glad your uncle caught the rat bastard. I hope the POS has to eat through a tube for the rest of his long, miserable life - in a nursing home being cared for by someone just like him. I am SO grateful we had my parents in a good nursing home. Most of the staff was really awesome and cared about what they were doing. I would like to think my parent's experience is the norm and these bad experiences are rare, but you just don't know.

My Uncle did a few days in jail.. The orderly spent a few weeks in the hospital. Unfortunately, I believe that is ALL that happened to him.. He lost his job, But I believe that because of what Bill did, they were unable or unwilling to proceed with charges. It has been a very long time and I was fairly young.

I have worked in a lot of nursing homes, setting up IT infrastructures and maintaining them... Unfortunately there seem to be far more BAD homes than good ones. I hope I am wrong, but I doubt it. It seems to me like for the most part, the people who work at nursing homes, would all rather work somewhere else. And they direct their own job dissatisfaction at their patients. Especially once they figure out that they can get away with it easily... Because who listens to the elderly, they're all crazy.

My wife and I neither one want to EVER land in a nursing home. We would rather die first.

Not to excuse any of this. But, I suspect most nursing homes are barely above minimum wage. For that kind of money, most have high turn-over and thus are chronically over-staffed. Under those kinds of working conditions, they probably don't attract and retain quality employees. My grandfather spent his final months in a home and "fell" a couple of times. When I went to visit, the staff was unable to provide anything but basic care. In reality, the place was a "warehouse" that drained his life's savings before he passed. However, it was really the only logical option.

This will only make things worse.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=44987

quote ObamaCare's IPAB Spells Medicare Rationing by Rep. Charles W. Boustany, Jr. 07/21/2011 During my career as a heart surgeon, I often treated patients who had difficulty finding a primary care doctor because they were on Medicare. The problem persists today, and the new health law will make it worse. One out of five seniors report delays in seeing a doctor. Medicare doctors face almost $300 billion in automatic cuts during the next decade. Under current law, Medicare’s independent actuary predicts physician payments will “fall to 27% of private health insurance levels” and “less than half of the projected Medicaid rates.” The new health care law creates more life-threatening delays for seniors under President Obama’s Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). This 15-member panel of presidential appointees will make new cuts to meet annual spending targets. IPAB will have unprecedented control over patients’ personal medical decisions, but limited medical expertise. The law limits membership of doctors with real experience caring for patients, instead selecting numbers-crunchers focused only on costs. Experts in “technology assessment” will help devise payment formulas that prevent new lifesaving medical breakthroughs. In defending this new rationing board, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius called IPAB's new automatic cuts “recommendations.” She neglected to explain that IPAB's decisions carry the force of law unless two-thirds of the House and Senate vote to stop them. In a shameless power grab, ObamaCare also prohibits judicial review of cuts harmful to seniors. Sebelius insists IPAB may not “ration” care, but she admits the new law fails to define the word. By slashing payments below costs, IPAB will deprive patients of needed care. While IPAB can’t outlaw needed treatments, it can force frail patients to wait longer or travel farther. It can also penalize doctors who offer a new and more effective treatment. Even the left-leaning Kaiser Family Foundation agrees IPAB must cut below annual spending targets “even if evidence of access or quality concerns surfaced.” Sebelius mentions her “responsibility to improve access ... for all our Medicare beneficiaries,” but will she define rationing in the final IPAB rule to protect seniors’ timely access to needed care? We cannot serve patients’ best interests by allowing unelected bureaucrats to make critical medical decisions. Even Democrats who voted for ObamaCare support repealing IPAB before it begins. Rather than defending IPAB, Sebelius should side with the seniors it would harm and call for its repeal. Congressman Charles Boustany is a retired heart surgeon. He was elected to Congress in 2004 and serves as Oversight Subcommittee chairman on the House Ways and Means Committee.

quote Originally posted by carnut122: Not to excuse any of this. But, I suspect most nursing homes are barely above minimum wage. For that kind of money, most have high turn-over and thus are chronically over-staffed. Under those kinds of working conditions, they probably don't attract and retain quality employees. My grandfather spent his final months in a home and "fell" a couple of times. When I went to visit, the staff was unable to provide anything but basic care. In reality, the place was a "warehouse" that drained his life's savings before he passed. However, it was really the only logical option.

My M-I-L worked at a nursing home as CNA (Not even a nurse, just an assistant) and was making $11/hr. This wasn't a big fancy nursing home, either, this was a small, barely enough staff home in a town that had a total of 4 nursing homes and convalescent centers, and it had the lowest pay rate of any of them. She was told that if she got her LPN, her wage would go to $15.50 and her RN would bump her to a base wage of $19. Most nurses at a quality facility make far more than minimum wage. I have 2 nurses in my extended family (1 LPN and 1 LNP) and the LPN is career nursing home and makes almost double the minimum wage while the LNP is career hospital, earns in the low 6 digits and is called Dr., twice. (2 biology Ph.D's.)

I will give you that some nursing homes don't pay what they probably should, but I don't think it's as big an issue as you may think it is.

quote Originally posted by carnut122: Not to excuse any of this. But, I suspect most nursing homes are barely above minimum wage. For that kind of money, most have high turn-over and thus are chronically over-staffed. Under those kinds of working conditions, they probably don't attract and retain quality employees. My grandfather spent his final months in a home and "fell" a couple of times. When I went to visit, the staff was unable to provide anything but basic care. In reality, the place was a "warehouse" that drained his life's savings before he passed. However, it was really the only logical option.

You are correct, sir....I watched it when my grandma died.....700 bucks by a visit by some (insert comtept profanites) who could barely speak english and left nail-polish bottles in grandmas bathroom, and used condoms in the basement............but hey, fresh off the boat and 1500 bucks diploma will get ya a job as a "personal support worker"......I guess doing yer nails and getting nailed is more important than even picking up the pohne and saying "Mary sheet the bed and is laying in it"....but naw, ya gotta get JUST the right shade of blue on those nails.............