Two recent reports – one from the Register Citizen and another from the Hartford Courant — reveal that several Connecticut nursing homes were fined by the state Department of Public Health in July and August. Instances spurring investigations date back to 2013 and early 2014.
In multiple cases, the aids and nursing staff had not been following doctors’ orders. Specifically, according to one instance at a Bridgeport home, a resident wasn’t given proper IV hydration. In others, residents weren’t given prescribed medications for diabetes, were given an incorrect dosage of insulin, weren’t having their condition and symptoms adequately monitored, or had to be hospitalized after being given an incorrect medication.
Outside of care, staff members’ negligence frequently resulted in residents’ injuries. Not properly operating a lift surfaced in a few accounts, with staff not using one when the device was required, not having the correct pads for residents, or residents being cut by the equipment. Or, according to one report in the Register Citizen, the lift’s straps broke while the resident was being transferred. Residents, throughout these ordeals, experienced injuries ranging from cuts and head wounds to broken leg bones.
Other injuries resulted from negligence: Residents falling out of beds, out of wheelchairs, or while being transferred to a toilet, or experiencing pressure sores from improper care. In one report in the Courant, negligence resulted in a Sharon home violating state regulations: Not checking the temperature on a heat pack, before it burned a resident; not providing residents in severe pain with appropriate pain killers; and not addressing a resident’s sudden weight loss.
In another equally-extreme instance reported by the Courant, a resident was discharged to a relative that previously misused the patient’s money. Although the individual had a power of attorney, the resident was taken off grounds and was later found at a local motel.
Along with these instances, workers’ behavior resulted in fines: smoking without a smoking apron, yelling at residents, using derogatory phrases, and causing emotional distress through mistreatment.
Out of both reports, the nursing homes fined over the past two months include:
The Springs at Watermark 3030 Park in Bridgeport
Laurel Ridge Health Center of Ridgefield
Paradigm Healthcare Center of New Haven
Paradigm Healthcare Center of South Windsor
The Mary Wade Home of New Haven
Apple Rehabilitation of Watertown
St. Joseph’s Living Center of Windham
Sharon Health Care Center
Regency Heights
Evergreen Woods
The Kent
Fairview Healthcare Center
Walnut Hill Care Center
Westport Health Care Center
