Animal therapy has been an effective tool for both children and the elderly. The nursing home activities director said the pony is great because for just a moment, the residents forget about their walkers and wheelchairs and focus in on those pretty pink hooves that make their day. Star initially started visiting preschool students, but she was such a hit at the nursing home that she has continued monthly nursing home visits. For more, read the story.

The department of health noted that the resident was known by staff at the facility to have difficulty swallowing but was left there with only his wife by his side. Unfortunately, her memory problems prevented her from helping him with his meals or recognizing an emergency situation.

According to the investigation, a nurse's assistant brought the resident his meal on a tray and left the room, allowing for private time with family. The resident began coughing, but by the time two nurses to come into the room, the man's heart had stopped and he wasn't breathing. A nurse saw that his skin was blue and some of the fruit had been eaten, however no emergency action was taken because staff members were unsure whether the resident was choking and he had a "do not resuscitate" order. The state determined that the lack of supervision during the meal constituted neglect of the resident. For more, read the story.

The resident has been placed on a psychological hold and is being evaluated at the county medical center. The fire started shortly after 7 p.m. required the residents and staff be evacuated from the facility. Firefighters said two residents needed to be rescued from their rooms. There were no injuries, authorities said. For more, read the story.

According to court documents an on-duty charge nurses reported discovering empty bottles of morphine to the nursing director, and all personnel were drug tested. The nurse sentenced failed, but passed two subsequent urine tests but only because she used urine from another employee.

In November 2010, the nurse added tap water to the morphine bottle of a 105-year-old resident to conceal that she had ingested it. The nurse already had a history of drug abuse when she was hired at the facility. She had been caught stealing hydrocodone from nursing home patients just months before she was hired by the second facility. The facility claims that they had no notice of the prior allegations. For more, read the story.

The facility owner has hired an exterminator as needed to handle the problem at the facility, but officials told him Wednesday that the building required extensive fumigation. All residents had to be transferred to other facilities or discharged home in order to fumigate the building.

Residents will be  required to remain out of the facility until the sanitary issues have been completely resolved. For more, read the story.

According to police, he is bipolar and suffers from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. It is believed he may be trying to travel by bus or train across the country. For more, read the story.

She quit working at the facility after witnessing repeated neglect, including patients left for hours in their waste and treated cruelly. Some family members of residents at the facility have also come forward to say that there are definitely care issues at the nursing home. For more, read the story.

One of the facilities received a $755 fine after a nurse’s aide allegedly treated a resident in a rough manner that may have caused the patient to hit his or her head on a bedrail, a state report says.  The home also was cited for three other incidents involving injuries to residents.

A third facility faces fines for an incident in which a physician was not promptly notified of changes in residents’ condition involving a resident who lost 15 pounds in just three weeks. The facility also receive a fine for an incident in which a resident suffered a fractured ankle because they were not properly assisted. For more, read the story.

The penalty was issued after a nurse at the facility inserted a breathing tube into the trachea of an 81-year-old woman with the cap still on the tube. The woman could not breath trough the tube, which led to suffocation and death. According to state officials the facility did not have a policy for properly inserting the breathing tube, known as a "T-piece." For more, read the story.

Why he was a resident at the facility has not yet been released. Police say the victims, who were all three women, were transported to a hospital. Further details on their conditions have not yet been released. For more, read the story.

The facility will now be monitored daily until the issues are corrected. The facility had only just regained its aged-care accreditation nine months ago after failing to meet federal standards in 2009. Until the issues are resolved, the facility cannot accept new residents and cannot receive federal funding. For more, read the story.

Court documents filed in U.S. District Court states staff routinely visited nursing homes to collect unused prescription drugs and controlled substances from patients that were then returned to the pharmacy. Employees would then dump them, sort them and re-package them to be sold again. Investigators also said employees had no way of knowing if the drugs were being resold after they had expired.

Additionally, documents reflect that the pharmacies were not refunding patients for unused medications, instead they were billing additional patients for the resold drugs. For more, read the story.

The resident was later found sitting on the bathroom floor and was assessed by a nurse. Later that same day, the resident complained of groin pain and was transferred to a hospital and diagnosed with a pelvic fracture.

According to the Department of Health report, the staff member assisting the resident in the bathroom knew that he should not have been left alone in the bathroom and the facility staff were re-educated not to leave residents unattended on the toilet. For more, read the story.
 

Robert W. Carter, Jr. is a Virginia attorney whose law practice is dedicated to protecting the rights of the victims of nursing home and assisted living neglect and abuse in Richmond, Roanoke, Norfolk, Lynchburg, Danville, Charlottesville, and across Virginia.

The laws include are calls for homes to be shut down when residents die from poor care, and caretakers involved to be banned from the healthcare industry. The dual bills, unveiled this week, include comprehensive legislation that seeks to improve oversight and mandate penalties in fatal neglect cases. Also included, is a public ratings system for assisted living facilities. For more, read the story.

According to the indictment, between May and November of 2010, the nurse replaced the hydrocodone of 10 adult residents, depriving the residents of needed medication and retaining it for herself.  Each of her 22 counts are felonies with sentences ranging between one to ten years. For more, read the story.

Police have said in a press release that the elder man, who had dementia, was reported missing from the facility at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 14. However, the disappearance was actually reported to police at 8:37 p.m. An officer responded to the scene at 8:51 p.m. and immediately commenced a search that involved other officers, police said.

Additionally, the county coroner has said an investigation revealed that the elderly man wandered off at 3 p.m. If this is the case, the facility waited five and a half hours before notifying police. The coroner also stated that he died of hypothermia, likely several hours after he went missing. For more, read the story.

The lawsuit stems from an incident in 2010 in which a visitor to the nursing home called the head of nursing and told her that there was a possible sexual assault to the 87-year-old dementia patient. The next day, he says, the facility suspended the aide and sent the elder woman to the hospital - not for a sexual assault exam, but for a routine Medicare exam.

The hospital, confused by the unscheduled exam, was finally told about the sexual assault accusations. Nursing home staff refused to file a police report until hospital staff threatened to do so themselves. At the hospital, the woman was examined by a specialized sexual assault nurse who reported cuts and scrapes that left her with "no doubt" that the elderly woman had been sexually abused.

The victim died a month after the incident, and no charges have ever been filed in connection with the now closed investigation. For more, read the story. 

The woman allegedly used a lighter to light her mother's roommates mattress on fire before leaving the room. Employees, alerted to the fire, found flames above the bed. Staff woke up the 73-year-old Alzheimer's patient and put out the fire.

According to police, the suspect first denied any involvement with the fire, but later admitted that she was upset with the care being provided at the nursing home so she set the fire with a lighter as a "cry for help," according to the probable cause statement. For more, read the story.

The facility has placed signs in the lobby warning visitors of an illness outbreak and has halted admissions until the illness is resolved. Residents who have exhibited the severe diarrhea, abdominal pain and vomiting are in isolation and will remain there from 48 to 72 hours after their symptoms stop.

The highly contagious virus, which cannot be treated by antiobiotics, is common in hospitals, nursing homes and cruise ships. A spokesman for the facility said they are pushing fluids because the virus can lead to dehydration.  For more, read the story.

One of the students on the project, said the PRSR started out as a classroom assignment to use electronics to solve a real world problem. The four students formed an official LLC,  met with hospital CEO's, bed sore patients and nurses in order to develop the PSRS. For more, read the story.

According to police, several employees are suspected of stealing and distributing the drug. A man was arrested in during a sting set up by law enforcement, attempting to possess Lortab with the intent to distribute. Police feel that he was a purchaser of the nursing home's missing Lortab. No arrests will be made until completion of a thorough investigation. For more, read the story.

Robert W. Carter, Jr. is a Virginia attorney whose law practice is dedicated to protecting the rights of the victims of nursing home and assisted living neglect and abuse in Richmond, Roanoke, Norfolk, Lynchburg, Danville, Charlottesville, and across Virginia.

Investigators allege that she gave an 83-year-old nursing home resident a shot of insulin causing the resident to fall into an insulin induced coma. The resident was not diabetic and had not been prescribed insulin. The woman then used the resident’s credit card for ten days and continued to use it even after the resident had died. She faces twenty years to life if found guilty of second degree murder. For more, read the story.

Investigators allege that she gave an 83-year-old nursing home resident a shot of insulin causing the resident to fall into an insulin induced coma. The resident was not diabetic and had not been prescribed insulin. The woman then used the resident’s credit card for ten days and continued to use it even after the resident had died. She faces twenty years to life if found guilty of second degree murder. For more, read the story.

The man said his mother was prescribed powerful narcotic painkiller after she fractured her hip in 2004 and fractured her spine in 2006. The prescribed medication, however, was diverted that medicine away from his mother by  the director to support her own addiction to narcotics.

The director of the facility was sentenced to serve 12 months probation in a criminal trial  in 2008. For more, read the story.

When authorities arrived at the elderly patients home to investigate her death in October, foul play was not initially suspected. However, the coroner noticed a strong smell of decomposition and found clear evidence of neglect. After evaluating the woman's wounds and physical condition at the time of her death, the coroner ruled the death a homicide.

The home health aide had been hired to care for the woman 24 hours a day, seven days a week, according to officials. The aide lived with the woman and was paid to groom and bathe her, as well as ensure she took her medication and saw her physician.

During the investigation, the aide said she could see the top of the elderly woman's back but denied seeing any of the skin breakdowns or bed sores discovered during the autopsy. Authorities investigated the suspected neglect death for three months before arresting the aide. If convicted, she faces up to four years in prison. For more, read the story.

A detailed investigation report revealed problems at the facility including unqualified employees administering medication, residents not treated with respect, and a failure by the staff to adhere to physician's orders.

Last month, a 79-year-old man wandered away from the home and died. Following the investigation into the man's death, the state ordered the center to shut down. However, the owner took the matter to court, where they were allowed to remain open. The state says the most serious resident health and safety concerns have been corrected. For more, read the story.

According to the criminal compliant, another employee at the facility caught the man attempting to sexually assault an 81-year-old, incapacitated, female patient. When confronted, the complaint says the employee exited the building by jumping through a window. He was found and arrested, and later confessed to the incident. Last month, he pleaded guilty to attempting to commit a felony. For more, read the story.

The woman had lived at the facility since August 2003. She had the onset of dementia and according the the woman's family, she was known by nursing home staff to wander off. On the day she died, the attorney for the family said, alarms on her clothing, wheelchair and the emergency door should have all gone off to let staff know what she was doing. For more, read the story.

State Health Department officials said staff at the facility neglected the man's "fluid and nutritional needs" and failed to detect a 30 pound weight loss over several weeks.  Because there were many staff members involved in his care, investigators are holding the nursing home responsible for the neglect, citing failure to evaluate the man's weight loss and intake of solids and liquids, and failing to notify his doctor about the weight loss. For more, read the story.