August 10, 2009
NEWSLETTER
A non-profit organization dedicated to the welfare of the “Forgotten Kentuckians”
EMAILS, WE GET EMAILS....
We thought you would be interested in reading some of the emails we received after our last newsletter was published. Although we do not agree with all the views expressed, and although there are some inaccuracies in statements made, we bring these letters to you in their complete form. We have removed names in order to keep the writers’ identities confidential.
Perhaps, after reading these emails you will have some of your own comments to send to us. We always welcome them....
From a nursing home employee....
I have been in health care for 26 years. I can remember when we had enough staff to care for our fellow Kentuckians, sometimes seeming as if we were family. Now it seems Boards and Administrators of care facilities keep just enough staff to run a "production plant" or "assembly line." We are so understaffed.
It's painful to know there is care you can't give because there is just not enough staff. Most of my day is spent giving just the minimal amount of care, enough to make sure my residents are comfortable, when they deserve so much more.
And, I am yet to see a state or ombudsman visit where the facility didn't know in advance. Oh, but it is on these days that we have proper staff, until the visit is over, then it is back to the same staffing shortage, and minimal care.
Our elderly Americans should be our most celebrated citizens. It is they who prayed for us, raised us, built our schools, roads, and fought in wars to protect our rights, and freedoms, in hopes that their later years would be comfortable and worry free. But the sadness is they lose everything they worked for all their life for payment for care they don't and can't receive.
I enjoy my residents and the service I can give them, have grown quite fond of them, and in some instances, I am the only face they see. I would regret losing that bond, which is where my dilemma lies. I don't want to lose my job. But I would dearly love to see the media get involved and bring this petition to the average Kentuckian, would even talk to the media myself, but I am not sure how to proceed. Any advice in how I could help would very much be appreciated.
From an ombudsman....
Pro Seniors is the sponsoring agency of our regional LTC Ombudsman Program in Southwestern Ohio. Pro Seniors also offers a free statewide senior legal hotline, and is the Title III provider of legal services (Older Americans Act) for our region (5 counties). You can learn more about these services on our website at www.proseniors.org. We often get that comment, too – that the facility must have been tipped off that the surveyors were coming. Although I am as jaded and cynical as the next person, I don’t think that facilities need a tip to figure this out. I think it is fairly simple for a facility to figure out that they are due for their inspection based on when they were last inspected. I don’t think that most people (even nursing home staff) know about the required timing of surveys. I don’t know the inspection practices in Kentucky. Do they also do complaint investigations, when someone reports a problem?
From a former nursing home employee....
I appreciate your trying to call attention to issues within the nursing home industry. I only wish you had better information sometimes. I have worked in several long-term care facilities and know first-hand many of the problems. But I did want to point out that it is not just direct-care workers in facilities who must undergo a background check - ALL - employees must be investigated. (Many facilities also require background checks on volunteers who are in the building frequently.) When doing their yearly inspection, state surveyors will pull personnel files to ensure that the check and the required TB testing was done. Otherwise a deficiency is issued. No nursing home can take the chance of hiring anyone with a known background of abuse or misappropriation of funds. Also, most homes DO NOT know the exact date of when the state is going to walk in. They can come based on a complaint or for their annual inspection. What the regulations do say is that the state can come in three months prior to last year's annual anniversary or three months after. So yes, three months prior a more concerted effort is made to "get ready" for survey. And as the annual date comes closer, you can get a sixth sense of okay, it's time, they're coming. Hope this helps clear up a couple of things. While not claiming to be an expert, I may be of help again in the future.
From a family member of a resident....
Bless you for all you do; however, there needs to be a way to include all nursing homes in reform efforts. The nursing home my mother was in cannot be found on the "compare" Web site because it is a private, "not-for-profit" organization. Were residents harmed and treated badly? You bet! One nurse even told us they locked residents with dementia in their rooms some nights because they did not have the staff to "handle" them. I have told you some of the stories and I have a file of many others including photos of my mother's bruises and others of cuts and tears on her arms from a fall. It is sad that only those with Medicaid and Medicare beds have the potential for being made accountable. Other "non-profit" facilities are getting by while the CEO drives a Lexus, makes a big salary and lives rent-free on the campus. This is frustrating and we stand by helpless. Bless you.
From a nursing home administrator....
Just received your newsletter and, of course, I have to comment.
- I don't see the big issue with nursing home companies posting the owners. My company has done this for many, many years and they want to hear from families who have care concerns. We are already required to post daily staffing and I personally do not believe that this should be an issue for facilities who are staffing adequately and delivering the necessary care based on the facility acuity.
- I strongly disagree with you on the 5-star rating system designed by Medicare. The staffing portion of how this is calculated is very flawed and Mr. Mortimer @ Medicare even admits to this himself. There are other flawed components to this system as well that include survey results (which are subjective) and the inability of the average consumer to interpret facility quality measures.
- You continuously speak about facilities being "tipped off" about surveys. I don't think this is as prevalent as you think. Facilities that keep track of their surveys and know the survey process should know a ‘round-about time' for an annual inspection. Kentucky law states that this time is anywhere between seven months to 15 months since your last inspection. This is what we call our survey window. This is an eight-month time frame that inspectors have to perform their survey. Not a very good indicator of when the actual event will occur. Maybe I just haven't made many friends with the OIG. (HAHA!)
- Advancing Excellence is a good program and we are a part of this campaign. I would think that your group would support these efforts. Our association has continuously urged facilities to join in an effort to improve quality in target areas.
From a current nursing home resident....
My input is based on my experience as a nursing home resident for the past five months. I pay the top "tuition' which describes the services rendered glowingly —chiefly checking by an aide every two hours. I have been fortunate in having several attentive aides, but afternoons and evenings are mostly staffed by less responsive people and in the evenings not enough aides. I have been told that Kentucky law does not require more than one aide for two evening hours and only two for the remaining hours. I require some help in getting in and out of bed. On many evenings when I call for help I am told "she can't come; she's got two down." That means two people are on the floor and need to be lifted and put back in bed. Whatever the law says, one or even two aides cannot adequately cover the demands of patients on two floors of ,,,, this complex. Some inhabitants demand constant attention and the competent aides usually have as many as 14 people to attend to on the daytime shifts....My complaint is that the most qualified aides are overworked and there are some unqualified aides that should not be here.
YOUR DOLLARS CAN HELP
This Newsletter is published by Kentuckians for Nursing Home Reform, a non-profit organization comprised of volunteers working to improve the lives of the 23,000 "Forgotten Kentuckians" destined to live out their lives at the mercy of nursing homes. If you would like to assist in our charitable work by helping underwrite expenses of conducting educational seminars, advocating for residents' rights in the State Legislature, or publishing informative materials, you may send your contribution to Kentuckians for Nursing Home Reform, 1530 Nicholasville Rd., Lexington KY 40503. Contributions are tax deductible as allowed by law. To volunteer, write to the same address or e-mail KyNursingHomeReform@yahoo.com. Thank you.
MEMORIALIZE YOUR LOVED ONES
KENTUCKIANS FOR NURSING HOME REFORM is a non-profit organization. That means that any donations to the organization are tax deductible by the donor. With that in mind, we offer for your consideration the thought that memorials at the time of the passing of a loved one or friend could be in the form of donations to KENTUCKIANS FOR NURSING HOME REFORM, 1530 Nicholasville Road, Lexington, KY 40503.
P.S.
As most of our regular readers know, we always close with a little joke, or something more lighthearted than all the grim nursing home reform news. But last month we forgot! And believe me, you told us about it. So here it is this time... enjoy.
Ramblings of an old guy...
I was thinking about how a status symbol of today is those cell phones that everyone has clipped onto their belt or purse. I can't afford one, so I'm wearing my garage door opener. I also made a cover for my hearing aid and now I have what they call blue teeth, I think.
You know, I spent a fortune on deodorant before I realized that people didn't like me anyway.
I was thinking that women should put pictures of missing husbands on beer cans!
I was thinking about old age and decided that old age is 'when you still have something on the ball, but you are just too tired to bounce it.'
I thought about making a fitness movie, for folks my age, and call it 'Pumping Rust.'
I have gotten that dreaded furniture disease. That's when your chest is falling into your drawers!
I know, when people see a cat's litter box, they always say, 'Oh, have you got a cat?' Just once I’d like to say, 'No, it's for company!'
Employment application blanks always ask who is to be notified in case of an emergency. I think you should write, 'A Good Doctor!'
Why do they put pictures of criminals up in the Post Office? What are we supposed to do, write to these men? Why don't they just put their pictures on the postage stamps so the mailmen could look for them while they deliver the mail? Or better yet, arrest them while they are taking their pictures!
I was thinking, why pay taxes? People who owe taxes seem to get good government jobs.
I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a whole lot more as they get older. Then, it dawned on me, they were cramming for their finals. As for me, I'm just hoping God grades on the curve.
Enjoy your days and love your life, because life is a journey to be savored.