subject: Understaffing In California Nursing Homes Leads To Medical Errors [print this page] Every year, over 100,000 individuals-including the elderly and the disabled-entrust their lives to the care of the nursing staff and administrators of California's 1,100 licensed nursing homes. Last January, 32,000 of these current and former patients watched and waited while the lawyers representing their class-action lawsuit against Orange-County-based Skilled Healthcare Group advocated on their behalf in a Humboldt-County courtroom. Six and a half months later, the jury found Skilled Healthcare liable for understaffing in its 22 California nursing homes, ordering the healthcare company to pay out $640 million.
Understaffing in California nursing homes is a pervasive problem, resulting in numerous medical errors and injuries every year. In Orange County, a jury recently awarded over $3 million to a patient who sustained a brain injury as a result of a medication error committed by the staff at the nursing home in which she had been staying. The nonprofit organization, California Watch, found that the owners of the nursing home, Covenant Care, provided insufficient staffing in the facility in which the patient was staying, as well as in the 24 other California nursing homes it maintains. Medication errors are all too common in nursing homes, with one in five dosing orders improperly filled; this risk increases in understaffed homes.
Over the years, numerous cases of negligence have arisen due to widespread understaffing throughout the state. In 2006, a diabetic man who was prone to infections developed pressure sores after staying at a Long beach nursing home; one sore on his left leg become so bad that he had to have the entire limb amputated. In that same year, another diabetic man's blood sugar had dropped to a dangerous level; staff members at theSan Jose nursing home where he was staying refused his request for an ambulance, instead forcing him to adhere to the 15-hour fast required before his routine surgery. They also neglected to contact the man's doctor regarding his condition. The man died before he reached the hospital. He was only 67.
Until a system to better regulate staff levels in California nursing homes is implemented, it is important to take measures to prevent yourself or a loved one from becoming the victim of a medical error due to understaffing. Research the nursing home you are considering, checking for past complaints and violations, as well as reviewing staffing policies.
In recent months, state officials have discussed plans to better regulate staffing levels in California nursing homes, such as auditing payrolls and fining homes for understaffing. Until this plan is finalized and effectively implemented, Californians should thoroughly research nursing homes prior to seeking their services, checking for past complaints and violations, as well as staffing policies.
by:James Ballidis
Zaproxy alias impedit expedita quisquam pariatur exercitationem. Nemo rerum eveniet dolores rem quia dignissimos.
