Unfortunately, there has been another incident at a local nursing home. Click HERE to read the story. Fortunately, this is a rare occurrence, but it does happen. If you read the short news report, look at his last comment… “it’s true, I’ve had this problem for a while”. This means this is not an isolated incident. How long has this been going on? How many vulnerable elderly people have been victimized by this man?
The vast majority of people working in nursing homes are working hard and doing a fine job. This particular nursing home has a good rating from Medicare. They are rated (prior to this incident) 4 out of 5 stars, which is above average. When searching for a nursing home, many people depend on the Medicare star rating system to guide their decision-making process.
But regardless of the number of stars found on a web site, you don’t know what a person is thinking and you don’t know what is inside their head. Out of all the good people working in an organization, it only takes one bad apple... There have been many incidents at nursing homes where the employee cleared the screening process and seemed like a good hire. When these negative things happen, the nursing home, who trusted the employee, is also harmed.
After a high-profile incident like this occurs, most places tighten their screening process and monitor staff more closely. But, what can YOU do? If you are not happy with your current care provider, it is your right to move to a different provider. It’s that simple. If you have an uneasy feeling about a particular staff person, discuss it with management immediately. Chances are, if you’re feeling it, so are other people. Closely monitor the situation going forward. Again, if you are not comfortable with your current provider for any reason, you've addressed it with management and you're still not comfortable, it’s time to move.