Many of the signs and symptoms associated with mistreatment in nursing facilities are not always obvious to family members, friends, and visitors. Sometimes, the family remains unaware that a loved one is being abused or neglected until serious harm occurs, or the patient dies unexpectedly. The victims are often injured at the hands of caregivers or other residents.
If your loved one was mistreated while residing in a Jefferson County nursing facility, contact the Kentucky Nursing Home Law Center attorneys now for immediate legal intervention. Our team of lawyers have represented victims in cases exactly like yours and can help your family too. We use the law to hold those responsible for causing the harm legally and financially accountable. We can begin working on your case today to ensure you receive adequate compensation for your damages.
This Medicare/Medicaid-participating center is a 98-certified bed facility providing services to residents of Jeffersontown and Jefferson County, Kentucky. The "for profit" long-term care (LTC) home is located at:
3500 Good Samaritan Way
Jeffersontown, Kentucky, 40299
(502) 267-7403
The federal government and the state of Kentucky are authorized to penalize any nursing home with monetary fines or deny payment for Medicare services when the facility has been cited for serious violations of regulations.
Within the last thirty-six months, both the state and federal nursing home regulatory agencies imposed a serious monetary penalty against Jeffersontown Rehabilitation Center for $93,680 on March 17, 2017, citing substandard care. Also, the nursing home received two formally filed complaints and self-reported for serious issues that all resulted in citations.
Additional information about penalties and fines can be found on the Kentucky Department of Health Care Nursing Home Reporting Website concerning this nursing facility.
The state of Kentucky routinely updates their long-term care home database systems to reflect all health violations. This information can be found on numerous sites including Medicare.gov and the KY Department of Public Health website.
According to Medicare, this facility maintains an overall rating of one out of five stars, including one out of five stars concerning health inspections, three out of five stars for staffing issues and three out of five stars for quality measures. The Jefferson County neglect attorneys at the Nursing Home Law Center have found serious deficiencies and safety concerns at Jeffersontown Rehabilitation Center that include:
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated December 29, 2016, a state investigator noted the nursing home's failure to “maintain an infection control program to prevent the development and transmission of disease and infection for one of sixteen sampled residents. During observation of [a resident’s] wound care, one nurse did not wash his hands [before] providing the wound care.”
At that time, the nurse “did not create a clean field for placement of wound care supplies and used potentially contaminated supplies for packing the resident’s pressure ulcer.” A second nurse “did not change her gloves after they made contact with items dropped on the floor.”
The survey team reviewed the facility’s policy titled: Hand Hygiene and Handwashing and the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Guidelines for Precautions to Prevent the Spread of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus that read in part:
“Contact precautions will be used in addition to standard precautions for residents with known or suspected infections or evidence of syndromes that represent an increased risk for contact transmission. Gloves are to be changed, and hands washed after contact with materials that could contain high concentrations of microorganisms.”
The surveyors reviewed a resident’s Care Plan for Infection of Pressure Ulcer Wounds dated December 28, 2016, that revealed that “the resident was on contact precautions.” At that time, observations were made that revealed “an isolation cart [was outside the resident’s] room.”
The surveyors interviewed a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) who revealed that the resident “was on contact isolation precautions.” Observations were made when the resident went to LPNs “donned clean gloves and gowns before entering [the resident’s] room. Neither staff was observed performing hand hygiene before entering the resident’s room.”
At that time, one LPN “placed wound care supplies on an isolation cart outside the resident’s room, including five packaged 2-inch by 2-inch gauze sponges. When [the LPN] attempted to scoop up the supplies to carry into [the resident’s] room, the packages of sponges fell onto the hallway floor outside the resident’s room.”
It was then that the LPN “picked up the package from the floor with her gloved hands.” The LPN then proceeded to the resident’s “room with the package sponges and placed them on the resident’s overbed table [and] did not change her gloves.” The LPN “began to reposition the resident and adjust the resident’s sheet/blanket in preparation of the wound care treatment.”
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated December 29, 2016, the state investigators documented that the nursing home “failed to maintain an accurate clinical record for one resident.” The staff documentation in the clinical record for the resident “did not communicate an accurate representation of the resident’s behavioral status to support the use of [their] medications.”
The surveyors reviewed the facility’s policies on medications that read in part:
“A Registered Nurse completes an initial antipsychotic medication for residents prescribed antipsychotic medications. When residents are administered [antipsychotic] medication, staff document the resident’s mood and behaviors to indicate the effect the medication had on the behaviors.”
“Staff monitors the [antipsychotic] medication side effects, complete an antipsychotic medication assessment every six months, attempt Gradual Dose Reductions according to federal regulations, review the need for [antipsychotic] medications every three months, and document the rationale for continuing the medication in the Reduction Committee Meeting.”
The survey team reviewed the resident’s Psychiatric Follow-Up Evaluation dated January 29, 2016, that revealed that the staff reported the resident “had increase periods of confusion.” A subsequent Psychiatric Follow-up Evaluation dated April 22, 2016, revealed that “staff reported [that the resident] yelled out at times but was manageable with redirection and medications.”
The resident’s July 22, 2016, Psychiatric Follow-up Evaluation revealed that staff reported the resident “benefited from the use of medications.” By October 11, 2016, the resident’s Psychiatric Follow Up Evaluation revealed that the resident “yelled out at times but was manageable with redirection of medications.”
After the last psychiatric follow-up evaluation, the pharmacist requested “the Physician to evaluate the risk, benefit, and continued need for two antipsychotics.” Further review of the Pharmacy Medication Review Consult reveals “the Physician noted on January 27, 2016, and February 3, 2016, that “the patient responded well to the treatment and required to continue doses for condition stability. The Physician also noted a reduction would likely impair [the resident’s] function or cause psychiatric instability.”
The survey team reviewed the resident’s Physician/Advanced Practitioner Registered Nurse Visit Reports for the resident that revealed: “no new issues for [the resident] on encounter dates” between July 26, 2016, and December 14, 2016. The surveyors say that there was “no documentation regarding the resident’s mood/behavior.”
The surveyors reviewed the facility’s Comprehensive Care Plan for the resident that revealed “the facility develop a Care Plan for the resident’s antipsychotic medication therapy regarding Dementia with behavioral symptoms on March 16, 2015. The Care Plan directed the nursing staff to monitor [the resident’s] behavioral symptoms that presented a danger to the resident or others and that were significant enough that the resident experienced persistent distress (fear, continuous yelling, screaming, distress, or crying).”
The Care Plan “also directed nursing staff to consult with [the resident’s] pharmacy and health care provider to consider dosage reduction when clinically appropriate. The Care Plan further noted a Black Box warning for [Ariprazole and Quetiapine] to observe for increased mortality in elderly patients with dementia-related [conditions], clinical worsening of depression, and suicidal risk. The Black Box warned nursing staff of potential adverse side effects including agitation, anxiety, increase cholesterol, constipation, dizziness, and drowsiness.”
A review of the facility’s Mood/Behavior Documentation for the resident revealed a nursing Progress Note entered on October 4, 2016, that states “the resident refused care at times, was not easily redirected, yelled out for help, and did not show any interest in activities.”
The resident’s Certified Nursing Assistants Care Plan for the resident’s “Mood/Behaviors revealed the CNAs offered [the resident] the diversional activities for exhibited mood or behavior is a reported any anti-anxiety side effects to the nurse.”
The survey team observed the resident on the afternoon of December 27, 2016, when the resident “sat with eyes closed around by several other residents in the television area.” The following morning the resident “sat at the dining room table during the breakfast meal with head bowed down to the chest area and eyes closed.” At 11:30 AM that same day, the resident “sat with eyes closed and head bowed down to the chest area while in his/her room with the television on.”
One hour later, the surveyors observed the resident “eating lunch in the dining room. The resident conversed with staff without exhibiting behaviors.” At 3:20 PM that same day, the resident “sat with eyes closed surrounded by several other residents in the television room.” By 8:00 AM the following morning, the resident was “in the dining room during breakfast conversing with his/her roommate without exhibiting behaviors.”
The surveyors interviewed a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) that morning who revealed that she administered the resident’s medications as a mood stabilizer. The LPN further stated that when the resident “exhibited behaviors, she would document the behaviors in the nursing progress notes. However, she had not observed [the resident] exhibiting behaviors.”
The LPN said that the nurses document the resident’s “mood and behaviors in the nursing progress notes to give other nursing staff, social services, CNAs, and Physicians, a complete picture of the resident’s day and to help treat [the resident’s] condition.
In a summary statement of deficiencies dated December 29, 2016, the state investigative team documented that the facility had failed to “ensure the residents’ environment was free from accidents and hazards. Observations revealed one of three nurse’s stations in C/D Hall had bumper/molding was sharp jagged edges.”
The surveyors reviewed the facility’s policy titled: Building Operations Systems, Were Orders that reads in part:
“Facility maintenance staff complete all repair work identified through planned maintenance schedules, inspections, or repairs need to be identified by facility staff members as part of their day-to-day work.”
The state investigators observed the C/D Hall Nurses’ Station on December 27, 2016 and saw “the lower bumper/molding edge had pulled away leaving the edge exposed and the edge was jagged and shirt. The lower bumper/molding was approximately six inches from the floor.”
The survey team reviewed the facility’s Work Order Request Log that revealed: “facility staff had not submitted a repair request to the Maintenance Department regarding the broken bumper/molding.”
During an interview with a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), it was revealed that “she wrote a maintenance repair request in the Work Order Request Log or she called the maintenance department for needed repair work. According to [the LPN], she had not noticed the broken bumper/molding, but maintenance should fix it immediately for the residents’ safety.”
Do you believe that your loved one has suffered serious injuries or died prematurely while living at Jeffersontown Rehabilitation Center? If so, contact the Kentucky nursing home abuse attorneys at Nursing Home Law Center at (800) 926-7565 for immediate legal intervention. Our network of attorneys fights aggressively on behalf of Jefferson County victims of mistreatment living in long-term facilities including nursing homes in Jeffersontown. Contact us now to schedule a free case review to discuss how to obtain justice and resolve a financial compensation claim.
Our network of attorneys provides every client with a “No Win/No-Fee” Guarantee. This guarantee ensures that your family will owe us nothing if we are unable to obtain compensation on your behalf. Let us begin working on your case today to ensure your family is adequately compensated for the damages that caused your harm. All the information you share with our law offices will remain confidential.
Sources:
Attorney Carey Acerra
Licensed in Kentucky
Chicago Nursing Home Injury Lawyer Nursing Home Law Center LLC Home