In an effort to raise awareness of neglect and abuse inflicted upon nursing home patients across the United States, we will periodically publish a composite of recent events reported by the news media.

Choking Death – Michigan

According to the USA Today, a 58-year old nursing home patient died because a certified nursing assistant allegedly “ignored standing orders” regarding the patient’s meal protocol, which precipitated a choking incident that led to his untimely death. Per the report, an employee of the nursing home allegedly falsified his medical records, while the man was receiving treatment in a desperate attempt to save his life. The nurse aide was arraigned and charged with elderly abuse and the placement of false information on a medical record.

Choking incidents in nursing homes are, unfortunately, all too common. Some patients are placed on strict, limited diets to their inability to chew and swallow. If these orders are disregarded, then the consequences can clearly result in horrific choking deaths. Moreover, it is unfortunately true that nursing homes often attempt to cover up their wrongdoings by falsifying records to avoid responsibility and legal accountability.

To read the full story, please visit the USA Today website here.

Aspiration Death – Iowa

According to Iowa Capital Dispatch, a female nursing home resident who had been prescribed a soft-textures diet due to issues with swallowing was allegedly served coleslaw. The staff noticed the woman had been coughing continuously, with gurgling sounds according to the report. The patient’s oxygen saturation levels were reportedly in the 70% range – life-threateningly low.

Nearly a day later, the woman was still coughing according to the report. An aide informed the director of nursing, who allegedly declined to assess the resident. The woman was then sent to the hospital for aspiration pneumonia — a condition that typically involves inhaling food or liquids into the lungs. Two days later, according to the news story, the resident died at the hospital, reportedly of respiratory failure from aspirating an “unidentified organism”.

Later, according to the report, the nursing home’s dietary manager told inspectors that she was aware the woman should not have been served coleslaw, but the nursing home was “very low staffed” and she was forced to serve meals by herself – which resulted in the woman receiving coleslaw that did not align with her soft-textured diet.

The facility was reportedly cited for “failing to adequately protect residents from abuse.” A resident of the nursing home reported hearing a worker tell his roommate “50 times” to get dressed, allegedly followed by a slap and a thud against the wall per the report. In total, the Iowa nursing home facility was fined $28,103 by federal officials according to the story.

To read the full story, please visit Iowa Capital Dispatch’s website here.

You may be interested in:

Is Your Nursing Home Taking Necessary Steps To Ensure Patient Safety?

Inadequate Employee Screening Puts Nursing Home Patients At Risk

Recognizing Physical Signs of Neglect or Abuse in Nursing Homes