California Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers Blog

Signs of MRSA

Signs of MRSA include respiratory issues, infections around open wounds, and urinary tract issues. To discover if a resident has this bacterium a swab of the nostrils and a microscope examination for the bacterium is needed. It does not take long for MRSA to worsen. Usually the initial symptoms appear in 24 to 48 hours, and after 72 hours it is resistant to treatment. MRSA can be prevented with proper cleaning and care of patients. Treatment is through vancomycin or teicoplanin and if used early enough can stop the infection before death can occur.

Signs of VRSA

VRSA is vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. VRSA can result from treatment of MRSA with vancomycin and teicoplanin. The patient may become resistant to the original infection, as well as the drug being used to stop the infection from spreading. This particular bacterium is rarer than MRSA, but it does occur with increasing regularity. The bacteria will thicken the cell walls depleting the amount of vancomycin that enters the blood stream and kills the bacteria. Patients with this infection must be isolated to avoid spreading it throughout the rest of the SNF. They may also have to be placed on a pump to clean out their system of the vancomycin before trying another drug. The bacterium has to be isolated in the body to help eradicate it.

Looking for Risk Factors

VRSA and MRSA are just two inflectional bacterium found in SNFs that you should look for before placing a loved one. To keep residents at SNFs free of this inflectional bacterium the staff must provide proper housekeeping, hygiene, and keep to federal and state regulations regarding care facilities.

Continue reading "Nursing Home Infections Could Be Deadly says Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Attorney Steven Peck" »

Lower urinary tract infections (UTIs) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality for adults in long-term care (LTC).1 Community studies have shown prevalence rates of bacteriuria to be 11% in the elderly, 18% for those living in congregate living arrangements, and 25-50% for residents in nursing home environments. In fact, the most common cause of bacteremia in LTC residents is due to UTIs.

The prevalence of UTI increases in both sexes with age, resulting in a female-to-male ratio of 2:1 in the elderly population. The annual incidence of symptomatic bacterial UTIs is estimated to be as high as 10%. For asymptomatic bacteriuria, the estimated cumulative prevalence is 30% in women and 10% in men. Interestingly, the female-to-male ratio in the incidence of UTI narrows in the elderly population, which is thought to be related to the fact that with increasing age, men develop an increase in residual urinary volume after voiding, which increases their risk of bacteriuria and UTI; women engage in less sexual activity with age, and thus have one less predisposing risk factor for introduction of bacteria into the urinary tract.

Sepsis is a severe illness in which the bloodstream is overwhelmed by bacteria. Common places where an infection might start include the bowel, the kidneys, the lungs, and the skin. Sepsis infection can vary but bed sores from neglectful nursing home care can eventually cause the dangerous bacterial condition and an elder person is more susceptible to sepsis infection since their immune systems are worn down says California Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Lawyer Steven Peck.

Many of times under qualified, under trained, underpaid nursing home workers, sometimes with previous records of abuse/neglect, are caring for the elders in nursing homes or health care facilities causing Elders to be susceptible to severe bedsores causing sepsis, and even wrongful death.

The cases of sepsis have almost doubled over the last ten years, which is easily correlated to the increase of people that have aged and the extremely high incidence of nursing home abuse. In fact, even with aggressive sepsis treatment around 215,000 Americans with sepsis will end up dying from it every year.

Depending on the individual, symptoms of sepsis infection can range. When elders in nursing homes develop bed sores, largely because of nursing home abuse neglect, they will sometimes develop sepsis symptoms. Some of these common symptoms include:

Fever

Shaking

Skin Rash

Rapid Heartbeat

Hyperventilation

Delirium

Chills

Continue reading "Sepsis Is A Severe Illness Causing Death In Nursing Homes" »

Work to eradicate MRSA and clostridium difficile is a priority for protecting elder and dependant adults in long term care facilities says California Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Lawyer Steven Peck.

These type of serious infections can be eradicated if long term care facilites would monitor their facilities for cleanliness and give the pateints quality care. Infections are not inevitable.

A greater focus on cleanliness should include improved bed cleaning and hand hygiene, and the introduction of MRSA screening so that emergency patients are checked for signs of the infection when they are admitted to avoid contamination on wards.

Bed sores in long term care facilities are also a problem and are distressing to patients, may prolong the time they spend in hospital, and cause further health probelms including death.

Continue reading "Eradicating Infections in Long Term Care Facilities Is a Priority" »

In the nursing home environment, the prevalence of pressure ulcers is in the range of 2.6-24%.The incidence is 25% in residents admitted from an acute care hospital.

Patients with preexisting pressure ulcers demonstrate a 26% incidence of additional pressure ulcer formation over a 6-month period. The incidence in chronic care hospitals is reported to be 10.8%,whereas 33% of those admitted to a chronic care hospital have pressure ulcers.Long-term follow-up demonstrates that most ulcers healed within a year.

Persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) and associated comorbidity are also at increased risk. The incidence of pressure ulcers in this population is in the range of 25-66%.

Continue reading "Nursing Homes Have up to Twenty-Four Percent of Their Patients Incurring Pressure Sores, Bed Sores and Decubitus Ulcers" »

Bill Update: SB 558 (Simitian) was approved by the Senate by a vote of 21 to 14. The bill recently passed the Assembly Judiciary Committee by a vote of 7 to 3, and now awaits a hearing in Assembly Appropriations.

The Consumer Federation of California supports SB 558 (Simititan) because it would allow elder abuse to be enforced using a preponderance of the evidence standard.

As the bill author noted, "It is estimated that over 132,000 elders in California are abused every year. However, for every abuse reported, research has found that at least 5 others go unreported, making the actual number of abused people much higher than the reported rate. Studies show that neglect and abuse of nursing home residents have reached epidemic proportions. A report by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that at least 91% of homes have been cited for health and safety deficiencies. Yet many residents who suffer neglect and abuse find it virtually impossible to seek justice in court."

This bill will strengthen protections for California's most vulnerable consumers: seniors. SB 558 (Simitian) will empower elderly adults and their advocates to pursue necessary legal protection.

Current law provides elder abuse civil cases are litigated with a higher legal standard than what is used in civil financial abuse cases: clear and convincing evidence. This bill would correct this anomaly, and give seniors and senior advocates a more appropriate, effective tool for holding elder abusers accountable.

Continue reading "SB 558 Provides Necesary Legal Protection says California Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Lawyer Steven Peck" »

Among nursing home residents at high risk for bed sores, decubitus ulcers and / or pressure sores black patients are more likely than whites to develop the potentially serious condition.

Bed sores, also called pressure sores or pressure ulcers, greatly increase a patient's cost of care and the risk of illness and death. They can almost always be prevented through proper care, such as helping a patient change position every few hours says Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Lawyer Steven Peck.

For this study, researchers analyzed 2003 to 2008 data on bed sore rates in 2.1 million white residents and 346,808 black residents of 12,473 certified nursing homes in the United States. The patients included in the study were at high risk for bed sores.
Overall rates of bed sores decreased over the years, but black patients had consistently higher rates than white patients. The rate among white residents decreased from 11.4 percent in 2003 to 9.6 percent in 2008, while the rate among black residents decreased from 16.8 percent to 14.6 percent.

The highest rate of bed sores in 2008 (15.5 percent) occurred among black residents in nursing homes with the highest concentrations of black residents. The lowest rate (8.8 percent) was among white residents in nursing homes with the lowest concentrations of black residents.

The researchers also found that residents of both races in nursing homes with the highest concentrations of black residents were at least 30 percent more likely to develop bed sores than residents in nursing homes with few or no black residents.

Nursing homes with higher concentrations of black residents tend to have lower staffing levels of registered nurses and certified nurse assistants and to be larger for-profit and urban facilities.

Continue reading "Black Patients More Likely to Develop Bed Sores, Pressure Sores and Decubitus Ulcers than White Residents" »

An indictment blames a Southern California nursing home and its former administrator for the death of a suicidal patient says California Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Lawyer Steven Peck.

Attorney General Kamala D. Harris said on July 11, 2011 that Verdugo Valley Skilled Nursing and Wellness Centre and former administrator Phyllis Paver face abuse and neglect charges in the death of Charles Morrill.

Harris says the 34-year-old Morrill was accepted into the facility despite its lack of equipment or staff trained to handle patients with mental illness.

Morrill, who had a long history of psychiatric illness, attempted suicide three times while there. He was successful the last time.

Continue reading "Los Angeles Skilled Nursing Facility Faces Criminal Charges for Abuse and Neglect" »

Sepsis is a potentially deadly medical condition that is characterized by a whole-body inflammatory state (called a systemic inflammatory response syndrome or SIRS) and the presence of a known or suspected infection. The body may develop this inflammatory response by the immune system to microbes in the blood, urine, lungs, skin, or other tissues. A lay term for sepsis is blood poisoning, also used to describe septicaemia. Severe sepsis is the systemic inflammatory response, plus infection, plus the presence of organ dysfunction.

Septicemia (also septicaemia or septicæmia is a related medical term referring to the presence of pathogenic organisms in the bloodstream, leading to sepsis.The term has not been sharply defined. It has been inconsistently used in the past by medical professionals, for example as a synonym of bacteremia, causing some confusion.

Severe sepsis is usually treated in the intensive care unit with intravenous fluids and antibiotics. If fluid replacement is insufficient to maintain blood pressure, specific vasopressor medications can be used. Mechanical ventilation and dialysis may be needed to support the function of the lungs and kidneys, respectively. To guide therapy, a central venous catheter and an arterial catheter may be placed; measurement of other hemodynamic variables (such as cardiac output, or mixed venous oxygen saturation) may also be used. Sepsis patients require preventive measures for deep vein thrombosis, stress ulcers and pressure ulcers, unless other conditions prevent this. Some patients might benefit from tight control of blood sugar levels with insulin (targeting stress hyperglycemia), low-dose corticosteroids or activated drotrecogin alfa (recombinant protein C).

Continue reading "Sepsis the Potentially Deadly Medical Condition As a Result of Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect" »

When bed sores are identified in their early stages a patients chances of a full recovery are quite good. Unfortunately, when facilities are slow to acknowledge the presence of a bed sore, decubitus ulcer, or pressure sore or the wound has advanced, there is a good chance of medical complications such as:

•Osteomyelitis
•Gangrene
•Sepsis
•Limb amputation
•Death

Continue reading "Medical Complications Associated With Bed Sores" »