A national initiative helped reduce the use of such drugs among long-term nursing home residents by 20 percent between the end of 2011 and the end of 2014.īut the dangers of the widely used Coumadin have drawn relatively little scrutiny, perhaps because the drug has clear benefits. For years, advocates, researchers and government officials have worried about the overuse of antipsychotic medications that can put elderly patients into a stupor and increase their risk of life-threatening falls. Nursing homes around the country are routinely cited for lapses that imperil residents, from letting those with dementia wander off to not stopping elders from choking on their food. Because it’s so easy to get wrong, “Coumadin is the most dangerous drug in America.” “It’s an insidious problem,” said Rod Baird, president of Geriatric Practice Management, a firm that creates electronic health records for physicians working in long-term care facilities. Studies suggest there are thousands more injuries every year that are never investigated by the government. From 2011 to 2014, at least 165 nursing home residents were hospitalized or died after errors involving Coumadin or its generic version, warfarin, a ProPublica analysis of government inspection reports shows. When nursing homes fail to maintain this delicate balance, it puts patients in danger. It’s a common precaution, but the drug must be carefully calibrated: too much, and you can bleed uncontrollably too little, and you can develop life-threatening clots. Peters took Coumadin at his Marshalltown, Iowa, nursing home because he had an abnormal heart rhythm, which increases the risk of stroke. “My goodness, I’ve never seen anything like it,” recalled Lorna Finch, Peters’s daughter, of the ugly purple bruise that sprawled from the middle of her father’s stomach to his hip. Instead, he had been given too much of a popular, decades-old blood thinner that, unmonitored, can turn from a lifesaver into a killer. The 85-year-old had not been in a fight or fallen down. Have a detailed, written plan for disasters and emergencies, such as fire, severe weather, and missing residents.When Loren Peters arrived in the emergency room in October 2013, bruises covered his frail body, and blood oozed from his gums. No actual harm with potential for more than minimal harm that is not immediate jeopardy (Pattern) Provide special eating equipment and utensils for each resident who needs them.
Provide food in a way that meets a resident's needs.
#LIFE QUEST NURSING HOME FREE#
Give the right treatment and services to residents who display physical or psychosocial problems adapting to changes in circumstances.Įnsure that a nursing home area is free from accident hazards and provide adequate supervision to prevent avoidable accidents. Įnsure that each resident who enters the nursing home without a catheter is not given a catheter, unless medically necessary, and that incontinent patients receive proper services to prevent urinary tract infections and restore normal bladder functions. Provide necessary care and services to maintain or improve the highest well being of each resident.
#LIFE QUEST NURSING HOME PROFESSIONAL#
Procure food from sources approved or considered satisfactory and store, prepare, distribute and serve food in accordance with professional standards.Īllow residents to self-administer drugs if determined safe. Provide timely notification to the resident, and if applicable to the resident representative and ombudsman, before transfer or discharge, including appeal rights.Ĭreate and put into place a plan for meeting the resident's most immediate needs within 48 hours of being admittedĭevelop and implement a complete care plan that meets all the resident's needs, with timetables and actions that can be measured. Honor the resident's right to request, refuse, and/or discontinue treatment, to participate in or refuse to participate in experimental research, and to formulate an advance directive.
Provide and implement an infection prevention and control program. No actual harm with potential for more than minimal harm that is not immediate jeopardy (Isolated) Provide appropriate care for a resident to maintain and/or improve range of motion (ROM), limited ROM and/or mobility, unless a decline is for a medical reason. No actual harm with potential for minimal harm (Widespread) Honor the resident's right to a dignified existence, self-determination, communication, and to exercise his or her rights.