Oklahoma Nursing Home Ratings & Safety Violation Information

According to Medicare.gov, there are 298 nursing homes in Oklahoma. While 144 (48%) of these nursing homes rank average or above on the level of care they provide, the remaining 154 (52%) have below average and much below average ratings. This substandard level of care falls below the acceptable rating allowed by Medicaid and Medicare.

When families place an elderly loved one in a nursing home, they entrust the establishment and staff members to provide the highest level of care and respect for their parents, siblings, or grandparents. Any violation of required protocols can be considered mistreatment, abuse, or neglect. Any facility responsible for the harm also be held legally and financially accountable for their inappropriate actions.

Even facilities that provide residents the highest level of care and ongoing supervision can fail to provide a safe environment that could lead to falls, accidents, and injuries that accelerate a loved one’s death. All friends and family members of a nursing home resident must keep a watchful eye for the signs and symptoms associated with mistreatment that include sepsis (blood infection), pressure wounds (bedsores), serious medication mistakes, unexplained bruising, abuse, rape, and assault.

If you suspect that your loved one was the victim of negligence, it is crucial to take immediate legal action. An attorney working on the family’s behalf will circumvent the problem, relocate your loved one, ensure law enforcement is involved and use their team of internal investigators to build a case for justice and compensation. Below is a list of common deficiencies and violations that occur at many nursing homes in Oklahoma.

Failure to Protect Residents from Accident Hazards

Nursing homes that do not provide a safe environment free of accident hazards could place every resident’s health and well-being in jeopardy. Some serious concerns involving accidents, dangerous situations, and hazards in Oklahoma nursing homes include:

• The nursing home did not ensure a resident was supervised to prevent a fall nor report the fall and provide new interventions to prevent further falls. (Memory Care Center at Emerald)
• The facility did not follow established protocols when transferring residents from the bed to the wheelchair using a mechanical lift to prevent accidents. (Northwest Nursing Center)

Failure to Report and Investigate Any Act or Reports of Abuse, Neglect or Mistreatment

Every doctor, nurse, nursing assistant, and employee in a nursing facility has a legal obligation to protect all residents from abuse, mistreatment, or neglect. Unfortunately, many residents become victims of their caregivers or other residents or, physical abuse, emotional trauma, or develop life-threatening pressure ulcers. Some concerns involving the protection of patients residing in Oklahoma nursing homes include:

• The facility staff did not report an allegation of abuse to the appropriate and state agencies, creating the potential for ongoing mistreatment. (Geary Community Nursing Home)
• The staff did not implement their Abuse Policy to ensure a thorough investigation was conducted involving an injury of unknown origin. (Harrah Nursing Center, Meadowbrook Nursing Center)
• The nursing home failed to ensure a resident remained free from potential further abuse after being abused by caregivers. (Heritage Park Nursing Center)
• The facility administration did not complete new employee reference checks to ensure the staff member’s name was not on the Oklahoma state list of previously identified abusive caregivers. (Kenwood Manor Nursing Center)
• The facility failed to report an allegation of abuse involving resident-to-resident assault and did not take steps to eliminate recurring abuse. (New Hope Retirement and Care Center)

Failure to Implement and Follow Infection Protection Protocols

Without effective treatment, wound care, and continuing observation, a developing infection can become contagious in the nursing home and cause severe health issues to many patients. The spread of infection can occur when the nursing staff fails to handle soiled linens appropriately, does not sanitize their hands, fails to wear sterilize gloves, or does not follow established protocols when residents are in contact isolation. Common concerns involving the spread of infections at Oklahoma nursing homes include:

• The nursing home did not track the trends of infections occurring in the facility and list concerns in the Infection Control Logs to identify serious infections that could spread throughout the facility. (Kenwood Manor Nursing Center)
• The facility did not follow established protocols when sanitizing a glucometer between residents when performing a finger stick blood sample checks to eliminate the spread of infection. (Monroe Manor Nursing Center)

Failure to Ensure Residents Receive Proper Treatment to Prevent Bedsores

All nursing facilities must follow procedures and protocols to maintain a resident’s skin integrity to prevent the development of avoidable decubitus ulcers, pressure ulcers, pressure wounds, pressure sores, and bedsores. Ongoing concerns for the lack of quality of care that leads to bedsores in Oklahoma nursing facilities include:

• The facility did not ensure a resident received care to prevent the development of a bedsore that degraded to a life-threatening condition. (Monroe Manor Nursing Center)
• A nursing home did not assess a resident’s pressure ulcer or obtain and implement pressure ulcer treatments to begin the healing process. (Seminal Care and Rehabilitation Center)

Other Safety Concerns

Other serious safety concerns include failure to notify a patient’s Physician of a change in the patient’s condition that could cause a delay in care and treatment of a serious health problem. Some nursing homes fail to follow established protocols to gradually reduce the dosage of antipsychotic and antidepressant medications or attempt non-pharmacological interventions to protect residents from unnecessary drugs.