The Four Incidents
Leeway, Inc. in New Haven saw a resident hospitalized in February concerning two related medication errors. In this instance, a patient had a doctor’s order to take seven doses of potassium chloride; however, the nurse in charge of administering the doses claimed she missed the order. The patient needed medical attention for low levels of phosphate and potassium. When the resident returned, the same nurse missed the second order for an antidepressant. After these back-to-back incidents, the home told the press it’s changing its auditing process.
At Salmon Brook Center in Glastonbury, a nurse’s aide left a resident at the unattended nurses’s station. The resident fell out of a wheelchair and suffered a broken hip. In a similar incident at The Willows in Woodbridge, a resident left unattended fell from a wheelchair and broke a leg.
A resident at The Reservoir in West Hartford who refused to go to the emergency room for medical attention called 911, alleging he was in danger. When the police arrived, they first sent the patient to the emergency room. Then they issued a citation to the home, claiming a registered nurse or doctor should have been informed.
At the same home, a just-admitted resident missed 22 doses of an anti-coagulant because the registered nurse supervisor forgot to confirm the medication order. Since then, the home has developed a new process for medication admissions.
Having your loved one admitted to a nursing home is a major, life-changing decision. When you put your trust in the professionalism of a care facility, you don’t expect negligence or elder abuse to occur. Yet, if you believe your loved one could be in danger, Trantolo & Trantolo is here to help. To have your claim reviewed, speak with one of our nursing home attorneys today.
