Breaking News:  The State of California has fined a nursing center $75,000 in the case of an elderly man whose death was reported for months as a heart attack, although he really choked on a tuna sandwich.  In 2003, the state accused the same facility of giving unnecessary drugs to eight patients. However, no fines or sanctions were given then. Viewers to the HensonFuerst Nursing Home blog are reminded to exercise extreme vigilance when family and friends in elder care are on restricted diets.

Click to read the entire article from the Orange County (CA) Register.

If our aging family members and friends are to continue to live robustly and in the best possible health, we need bold initiatives, says a report commissioned by the Institute of Medicine.  The Committee on the Future Health Care Workforce for Older Americans studied the health care needs of Americans over 65 years of age and assessed those needs through an analysis of the forces that shape the health care workforce, including education and training, models of care, and public and private programs.

Click HERE to read “Retooling for an Aging America: Building the Health Care Workforce” 

February 26, 2009

A woman was critically injured during a recent Fayetteville car accident, according to the Fayetteville Observer.

The young woman was driving down the road in her sport utility vehicle when she lost control of the vehicle and rolled over several times. The force of the Fayetteville auto accident partially threw the woman from her SUV.

She was taken to a local hospital after the North Carolina car accident, where she remains in critical condition.

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The Fayetteville auto accident attorneys at Henson Fuerst can help if you have been injured in a North Carolina car accident.

February 24, 2009

The Daily Reflector reported that a recent Greenville car accident claimed the life of a local man.

The man was driving down the road in his sport utility vehicle when he drove off the side of the road, causing the Greenville auto accident. As he tried to get back onto the road, a tire blew, causing the SUV to flip over.

The man was not wearing a seatbelt, and the force of the Greenville car accident threw him from his vehicle.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene of the North Carolina car accident.

Authorities believe that alcohol may have played a role in the Greenville auto accident.

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The Greenville car accident lawyers at HensonFuerst can help if you have been injured in a North Carolina auto accident.

The assault was captured on a hidden surveillance camera. In this case, evidence was sufficient to bring a lawsuit against the care provider and owners of the assisted living facility. Viewers to the HensonFuerst nursing home blog are reminded to remain vigilant in their observations of family and friends in assisted care facilities and nursing homes.

Click HERE to see this surveillance video.  Caution: Some blog viewers may find the content offensive and difficult to watch.

The Bush administration shut off a source of information last fall about abuse and neglect in long- term care facilities that people suing nursing homes consider crucial to their cases. A new Rule designates state inspectors and Medicare and Medicaid contractors as federal employees, a group usually shielded from providing evidence for either side in private litigation.

Click to read the entire article from Bloomberg News

The caregiver faces charge of battery, which becomes a felony offense when the victim is a law enforcement officer, a child under age 14, mentally or physically disabled, a school employee, a correctional officer, or an endangered adult, which includes people at least 18 years old who can’t provide self care because of mental or physical deterioration.

Click to read the entire story published in The Star Press

Jennelle Dixson is a nursing home ombudsman who looks out for residents too frail or too afraid to speak up about problems such as inattentive caregivers, dirty bedding and long delays in getting medication. Ombudsmen are among the most important watchdogs of the nursing home industry. The frequent prods and nudges they give nursing home administrators can have almost as much influence on the quality of care as the annual inspections that government regulators make. Viewers to the HensonFuerst Nursing Home blog are encouraged to make inquiries about the role of ombudsmen in care facility being considered, or used, to provide care for family and friends.

Click to read the entire story from The Dallas Morning News

The family of Sarah Wentworth wants answers after her body was discovered outside of the suburban nursing home where she lived, Arbor of Itasca, which has a one star rating, on a 5-star federal government scale. That’s the lowest possible rating, meaning the facility is, by government standards, much below average. The family was not aware of the low score.

Click HERE to read & watch the entire story.

The most significant difference between locations was the hourly wage of Home Health Aides (HHAs), causing consumers in the most expensive markets to spend nearly seven times more than those in the least expensive markets. In addition to HHAs, the cost of nursing home care differed greatly across the country. For example, residents of Lafayette, Louisiana are spending an average of $118 a day for a private nursing home room, while residents of New York City are spending five times that amount, at an average of $590 a day. The national average was $210 a day in the markets surveyed.

Click to read the entire PRNewsWire article