Nursing Homes|Nursing Home Abuse|Assisted Living Facilities

A common cause of hospital readmission is urinary tract infection (UTI) associated with catheter placement. This is especially true in the elderly and stroke populations discharged to nursing homes.

The belief is that a hospital treats a patient, sends her back to the nursing home from which she came, only for that nursing home to leave her catheter in too long which subsequently causes a UTI and associated symptoms such as "dizziness and giddiness" that look like they could be stroke related. Thus, the patient is admitted to the hospital, treated and the cycle continues.

Meanwhile, the hospital is unable to cover the cost of the admissions for various reasons: failure to document "present on admission," too many resources were used to diagnose the problem and rule out a stroke, the patient didn't meet admission criteria or payment for the billing DRG simply was less than the cost of the admission.

You can prevent these admissions quite simply by knowing more about the nursing homes to which you're discharging patients. We recommend looking at two pieces of quality information and sharing with families when choosing a nursing home:

1. Percent of long-stay residents who have/had a catheter inserted and left in their bladder (the national average is 5%)

Home Health Care in Los Angeles

Home health care is health care that is provided to patients inside their home, and usually by either health care professionals or family and friends. The term "home care" suggests that the care provided is non-medical and more of a custodial nature, whereas "home health care" may suggest licensed staff members. The differences here are similar to the differences between assisted living facilities and nursing homes. Much like assisted living facilities, home health care lets seniors enjoy a good measure of independence. An elderly individual or couple will appreciate having privacy as well as assistance in daily living needs.

What Home Health Care Provides

What kind of services does home health care provide? Home health care may help seniors with daily living needs such as bathing, dressing, house keeping and cooking and dining preparation. Depending on the needs of the resident, there may be special provisions such as transportation services and errands, volunteer programs, exercise and walking, and toileting assistance. More extensive forms of home health care would also provide rehabilitation programs, including visits from physical therapists and nurses. Other qualified home health care professionals may include respiratory nurses, occupational nurses, social workers, mental health workers and physicians.

Who pays for home health care? This type of outside assisted living program can be paid by private resources from the resident or family, by public payers such as Medicare and Medicaid or by employer-sponsored health insurance plans. Medicare will usually not pay for home health care on a long term basis while Medicaid is more likely to help low-income families with little or no assets. Employer-sponsored home health care is likely to be on a short term basis unless the insurance plan is very generous. Most of the time home health care will be paid for by a family's own resources.

When it comes to injury claims there's one category which sees a surprising number of people choosing not to claim, even though they are entitled to, and it is recommended that they do. Work accident compensation claims are amongst the most necessary claims, often because the injury is caused through pure negligence, greed or laziness, and the injuries sustained in a workplace can often be severe. The fact that employers and businesses have liability insurance means that any claim for compensation will be paid for by the insurance company, rather than the employer, so why do people choose not to make a claim when they both deserve it, and more often than not, need it?

The answer is that often people are afraid if the consequences. They are afraid that if they make an accident claim for compensation against their employer that they will find their employment jeopardised, or their working relationship harmed in some way.

Whilst understandable, this doesn't hold up to practical scrutiny, and in fact there are four very good reasons why if you have been injured in an accident at work which wasn't your fault, you should definitely consider making a work accident compensation claim as soon as possible.

1. Financial compensation for expenses incurred & income lost. If you have been injured at work in an accident that was not your fault, and for which liability can clearly be placed with your employer, it simply doesn't make sense to suffer the inevitable financial hardships when you don't have to. If you have been injured you may well need to take time off work, and this can result in a loss of earnings, which your employer is unlikely to voluntarily recompense you for.

Not only that but medical bills and expenses can add up, as well as other things such as the cost of any care and travel. The money you need is waiting for you to submit your claim, and frankly if you're trying to recover from an injury, worrying about money isn't going to help.

As our population grows older the number of seniors looking for a peaceful end to their lives by turning to nursing homes and assisted care facilities continues to grow. It is no secret that these facilities are usually understaffed and frequently use employees who are not all that well-qualified. Because of increased emphasis on profitability it is common practice to compromise standards, assuming that there are any in the first place.

When people go looking for a nursing home the last thing they expect is to find a problem with criminals working in the facility. That is exactly what the inspector general of the federal Health and Human Services found out in a recent report. Ninety percent of all nursing homes employee one or more people with a criminal record.

The report goes on to this show that over 40 percent of those employees with a record were guilty of property crimes like burglary, shoplifting, or of writing bad checks. Twenty percent had DUI's and fifteen percent of nursing homes had employees with two or more criminal convictions.

Part of the problem as noted is that the standards sometimes are so low that a background check is bypassed completely. Variation of this problem is that states sometimes only require a background check in the local state. If there was a conviction in the neighboring state it wouldn't show up.

In the year 2006 there was a law passed that required the creation of the database of workers. In 2010 the Department of Social Services decided that it would not seek money to comply with the law.

A loaded tractor trailer truck can weigh up to 40 tons - 16 times more than the average 5,000 lb car. The tremendous weight of trucks requires stringent laws to ensure that safe driving is the major concern of every truck driver- and good braking systems. Many tractor trailers on the road today have two braking systems, -airbrakes and antilock brakes. While a complete braking failure is unusual in semi-trucks, accidents due to brake problems still occur. In fact, the DOT reports that nearly 30% of all truck accidents were caused by issues with the brakes.

If you have been injured or lost a loved one to a tractor trailer accident, you may be wondering if brakes played a role in the accident. The insurance companies and responding law enforcement will investigate the accident scene including the braking system of the truck to determine if brakes were a reason for the accident. There are several ways that the brakes could have caused an accident:

• Wear and tear. Often, truck brakes do not perform as expected because of excessive wear and tear on brake disks.

• Poor air pressure in the air brake system.

• Worn brake seals.

There's a variation involving how properties are bought versus how nursing households are bought. Though the two these deals come beneath the broad type of purchasing home (genuine estate), the terms and costs of lending are governed by absolutely unique laws in every single case due to the fact homes are individual qualities which comes under the classification of domestic investments by folks, even though invest in of any industrial house - for whatever the objective - arrives underneath the purview of industrial lending charges. For example, when a person wishes to make use of the avenue of non-recourse lending for your obtain of a home, it is possible for him to make use of his IRAs so as to ameliorate his borrowing capability. A lot of people do that. Nevertheless, a businessman investing in expansion of his organization cannot do the identical matter.

Still it is feasible to make use of a Non-recourse financial loan to acquire nursing houses by utilizing the piece of home alone as collateral for securing the mortgage. Hypothecation is strategy of employing the house as collateral. It is most normally understood by borrowers as 'mortgage'. Although the idea itself is acquainted, it's important to have the quotes for hypothecation before getting into the cope having a lender as the charges and phrases of mortgaging property range in accordance with form of offer and also the guidelines in the jurisdiction.

Along with acquiring house by means of non-recourse personal loan, there is also a provision to implement residence via lease. The most common actions for getting hospital amenities, nursing properties and recuperation facilities is via the triple-net lease. On this, the lessee or the tenant is anticipated to shell out for maintenance, making insurance coverage together with all of the taxes applicable, as well as the lease hire. Most industrial buildings appear less than this classification of leasing, as are some home residences.

When seeking to acquire nursing houses as a result of non-recourse loan, you will find particular advantages which the buyer/borrower ought to hold in mind - for these are strengths which other creating proprietors would not be able to avail on their own of: Nursing properties and assisted residing loans are thought of on the basis of size and sort of building and according to these parameters, a possible purchaser can get estimates earlier than settling for any cope. The Housing and Urban Improvement (HUD) division which is the proponent of loans for these properties very first considers whether or not the premises are profit or non-profit oriented. With many other factors such as building, renovation or acquisition made the decision upon, quotes could be obtained for that bank loan.

You deserve to have the help of a personal injury attorney, no matter your financial situation. This is why there are several ways to afford the help of a firm. If you think you cannot afford it, think about the fact that you may have to pay for all of your medical bills, property damage, and other expenses related to the injuries on your own, which is much more expensive.

If you cannot afford to pay your personal injury attorney upfront through cash or debit card, you may be able to work out a payment plan. In fact, many attorneys accept financing as a way to pay for legal assistance, so you should definitely ask about this possibility. Make sure you understand the terms of the agreement so that you are able to pay every month on time, since otherwise you might jeopardize the legal help you are getting.

If your lawyer does not offer financing, you might consider putting the fees on a credit card. This is essentially the same, especially if you have a low-interest card. It will allow you to get the help you need now instead of waiting until you have saved up the money. In the end, you will likely get back any money you had to pay in interest since you will probably get more than what your injuries and damages cost you. This means you should have enough left over to pay off your card once you get what you are owed.

Some lawyers even work for free if you lose the case. Thus, you only pay when you win the case, and by then you should have more than enough money to pay both your lawyer and your bills related to the crash. This is called a contingency fee, and some lawyers' use this method when they believe you deserve help even though you cannot current afford it. If you can find a personal injury attorney who uses the contingency fee method, you should discuss your case beforehand with him or her since many such lawyers only take on strong cases.

You should use your initial consultation to talk about the payment methods available to you. You do not want to commit to legal help from a personal injury attorney without being able to afford it, yet you should not completely avoid it just because you cannot pay right now. There will likely be a solution that works for you, so be sure to check out your options.

Alabama has approved its own Nurse Assistant Certification programs ever since Congress passed the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act in 1987. The law is in place so states can oversee the standards of care in long-term care facilities like nursing homes.

The Alabama Department of Health approves CNA training programs throughout the state and maintains the registry list of CNAs that are legally allowed to work in long-term care facilities.

Requirements to work as a CNA in Alabama:

• Successfully complete a state-approved training program


• Pass the CNA State Exam (both writing and skills portion)

Our nation's elderly are men and women just like us who have lived their life to the fullest. They are not just elder adults, they are people with feelings, emotions and self respect. Unfortunately, every year hundreds of thousands of elderly adults fall victim to the abusive behaviors of their caregivers, nursing homes and even family members.

Elder abuse refers to the knowing, intentional or neglectful act by a caregiver or other adult that causes harm to the elder adult or puts them at a serious risk of harm. Elder abuse is such a common, wide-spread problem that legislatures have enacted some form of elder abuse prevention laws in all 50 states. Elder abuse occurs in various forms including:

Neglect - Failure to ensure proper hygiene, proper feeding or nutrition, healthcare, or shelter.

Physical Abuse - Restraining the elder adult such as tying them to the bed rails, squeezing them, slapping, hitting, and punching, over medicating or unnecessary sedation.

Sexual Abuse - This entails any kind of non-consensual sexual contact, or forcing the elder adult to undress, or forcing the elder adult to watch pornographic material etc.

Making the decision to place your loved one in the care of a nursing home or extended living facility may have come with mixed emotions. You may have sensed a loss due to the fact that things have gone beyond your control, while on the other hand, you may have felt a sense of relief knowing that your loved one will be receiving round the clock care.

Much like young children, our nation's elderly population can be physically incapable of caring for themselves. Often times, the day will come when they will need ongoing professional care. Unfortunately, because of their inherently vulnerable nature, they can be subject to different types of abuse. In fact, nursing home negligence and abuse is a larger problem than people might think. It is not limited to the shoddiest of nursing homes or only to those people without money. Nursing home negligence can happen in any nursing home or extended living facility - even the nicest, most expensive homes have had reports of neglect and abuse.

In fact, according to "Elder Mistreatment: Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation in an Aging America" sent out by the National Research Council Panel to Review Risk and Prevalence of Elder Abuse and Neglect, it is roughly estimated that between one and two million Americans over the age of 65 will experience abuse of some sort in a year - no matter whether this involves financial abuse or physical injuries. Other studies have found that despite these harrowing numbers, a mere one in fourteen incidents will ever be reported to authorities - making our estimations of elder abuse a mere fraction of the actual abuse that is occurring.

Why does this happen? First of all, many nursing homes are at maximum capacity. Americans are living longer now than ever before. In an effort to keep costs down, nursing homes sometimes hire underpaid and undertrained staff who eventually wind up being overworked. Even the most well-meaning employees can neglect to properly care for a resident when they are stretched too thin.

Other times nursing home negligence or abuse is downright intentional. A dishonest person can inadvertently be hired by the home. They can commit small crimes such as petty theft or they can be involved in full-fledged identity theft schemes. Financial exploitation can go undetected for years before the perpetrator is eventually caught.

Ask an elderly Veteran if they are aware they may be eligible for a pension from the Veteran's Administration and they will tell you "I'm not eligible because I was not injured in the War." This is a common misconception which keeps many Veterans from tapping into a benefit they well earned by serving our country. The fact is elderly, disabled Veterans and their widows may very well qualify for large sums of money, but they have to apply for the funds. There are several Veteran pensions, but the pension designed to help elderly Veterans and Veteran's Widows pay for costly Home Health Care, Assisted Living Facility or Nursing Home fees (if the Veteran is not covered by Medicaid) is called Special Monthly Pension with Aid and Attendance. The pension can pay a married Veteran up to $1,949.00 per month, an unmarried Veteran up to $1,644.00 per month and a Veteran's Widow can receive up to $1,056.00 per month. The amount one receives is based upon their medical expenses and their current financial and medical status. The pension is paid by check directly to the Veteran or Veteran's Widow every month as long as they meet the criteria.

The Special Monthly Pension with Aid and Attendance is the government's best kept secret. I cannot tell you how many seniors have told me that they called Veterans Affairs and were actually told that this pension does not exist or that they do not qualify. For thirteen years, I have assisted Veterans and Veteran's Widows in obtaining these funds - they really do exist.

To get the maximum pension amount, a Veteran must qualify medically and financially and must have served their country for at least one day during "War Time". Also the Veteran must have been honorably discharged. Every case is considered individually. If a Veteran or Veteran's Widow feels they may qualify, they can apply for the pension. The pension can take many months to actually be approved. The average waiting period is three to eight months. The first check will be retroactive to the month the application arrived at the Veterans' Affairs, therefore the first check may be for thousands of dollars. Subsequent checks will arrive monthly for the approved amount. This pension money can mean the difference between affording adequate care for an aging Veteran/ Widow or having no care at all.

As with any governmental program, success is all in the paperwork. The pension application is many pages long and some of it is in essay form. It is the exact wording used in the essay areas that mean the difference between approval and denial. Also, Veteran's Affairs does not tell Veterans about all the supporting documents that they would like to see. The better the medical and financial records, the better the chances are of approval. Including the right medical forms signed by a doctor is very important for approval. Also typical of governmental red tape is the frustrating lack of communication. Once the application is filed and in the process of being reviewed, it is nearly impossible to get an update or check on the status of the application unless the Veteran/ Widow make the call themselves. For most of our clients, they are too ill or too confused to make a call like that.

In a perfect world, financial assistance for those who qualify should be easily accessible and easy to get. But the reality is that government agencies are inherently complicated and their application processes are never self explanatory or simple. Ignorance of the rules is no excuse and no one will tell you the rules. The rules are written in a handbook, but the Veterans Affairs is not allowed to give them to you. Seasoned Eldercare professionals can often navigate these processes for you. They may charge for their services, but to attempt to do it yourself and have your application denied, will cost much more money. The Department of Veterans' Affairs supposedly employs staff to help Veterans and their Widows apply for these pensions for free, but it is these very people who have told so many seniors that they do not qualify, when in fact they could qualify if they made one small change. Perhaps Veteran's Affairs is afraid that if they made it easy for every Veteran to apply, the pension fund would go broke. Given that War Time includes the Gulf War Era which began in 1990 and has not ended yet, I anticipate the pension fund will one day be either broke or impossible to get. For now, the money is very much available and attainable.

In Florida, I've recently heard of three nursing homes in the area that had scabies cases. A client of mine at the mental health clinic told me that she couldn't get elimite at the local pharmacy as it had sold out. Her child had picked it up at the local child care center from another student. I spoke to a nurse at the mental health clinic where I work and she said that she feels itchy when leaving the assisted living facility she works at one time a week but she's never contracted scabies.

Scabies are very tiny mites so they can't be seen by the naked eye. They can be spread by skin contact such as holding hands and sexual relations, as well as by sharing clothing or bedding. Kids play very close to each other and get into wrestling and close contact looking at baseball cards, cell phone pictures and coloring together. At nursing homes people sit next to each other watching tv, hug each other for support and sometimes share clothing with their roommates. Sharing head phones can spread it as well and kids tend to do this with ipods often.

With scabies you may first itch before you notice the rash. Common spots are the arm pits, webs of fingers, wrists, stomach area and buttocks. Kids can get scabies on their faces but adults generally don't. You may also see the little burrow lines that are white, grey or red where the female egg zig zags under your skin to lay the eggs. These are difficult to see due to their thinness.

Permethrin cream is applied to the skin and left on over night to kill the scabies. At the same time, a thorough wash is needed in very hot water for the clothing and bedding. After 24 hours kids can go back to school, but be aware that if other kids are carrying scabies or untreated, one can get re-infected. This is one reason why they foud that a nursing home kept having residents re-infected. People weren't treated that had scabies and when they were, they didn't apply the cream under the nails. This is an important area that gets forgotten. When people scratch themselves , they can easiy spread what's under their finger nails to others. Scabies is not difficult to treat, but it needs to be done properly and with attention to detail.