When your loved one goes into a nursing home, you expect proper care and compassion. If you found out that he or she suffered because a worker wanted to torture him or her, you’d be furious. That’s what happened in this case in Ohio.
According to the March 19 report, a resident at Park East Care and Rehab Center was tortured and had cleaning solution sprayed into his eyes by an employee of the facility. Another report showed that a second resident died when the nursing staff failed to clean his breathing tube twice. These kinds of neglect and abuse are a failure of patient care and cannot be overlooked.
Park East has the lowest ranking on the Nursing Home Compare system, receiving just one out of five stars. In the above case of the resident with a breathing tube, it was alleged that a nurse did not follow a doctor’s orders and this led to the 39-year-old male’s death. In that case, the nurse did not clean out the man’s breathing tube because he believed that the patient didn’t need it done. As a result of that negligence, the man was found unresponsive and later died.
In the first case, where a resident had cleaning solution sprayed into his eyes, the 26-year-old nurse’s aide claims she was just joking around when the incident occurred. The man she attacked was a 41-year-old man who was unable to move or speak. The patient was not severely injured in the incident, but the nurse’s aide was convicted.
Horror stories like these may make you think twice about using nursing homes. It is important to know that there are good facilities out there with quality staff members. Be vigilant when you look for a facility and find out its ranking. It could help save your family a significant amount of pain, time and trouble.
Source: The Plain Dealer, “Abuse case, resident’s death raise questions about nursing home care: A Critical Choice,” John Caniglia and Jo Ellen Corrigan, March 19, 2017
