The reasons keep emerging for New Mexico residents to maintain vigilance over the well-being of their loved ones in elder care settings. The details change somewhat with each new case of nursing home abuse, but the traumatic emotions felt by victims and the disbelief of many faced with these crimes are as common as to be considered universal.
Disbelief common even in violent nursing home abuse case
Watch for signs of malnutrition in nursing home residents
If your New Mexico family had to place a loved one in a nursing home, you probably spent a significant amount of time researching facilities and trying to make the best choice possible. It takes a lot of trust to place a member of your family in the care of someone else, and it can be devastating when you learn that your loved one is not getting the care he or she deserves.
Nursing home abuse captured by cellphone video
No one wants to imagine their most vulnerable loved ones subject to abuse by supposed caregivers in New Mexico nursing homes, but chilling evidence from a new case serves to remind relatives of the need for vigilance. A video revealed remarks and actions by a caregiver that authorities saw as psychological abuse. A criminal case may be forthcoming, but the outcome for the patient and the facility as a whole was unclear.
Drug audit at nursing home finds RN diluted patient's morphine
Nursing home residents in New Mexico rely on health care staff to provide them with correct doses of medication. A routine audit of medications at one facility, however, revealed a betrayal of this trust. The staff discovered that a bottle of liquid morphine sulfate had been diluted with saline solution and reduced to only a 14% concentration of what it was supposed to contain. A registered nurse appeared to be the source of the tampering, and the facility administrator reported the incident to authorities. Police subsequently arrested the man, who now faces a charge of tampering with a consumer product.
Family sues nursing home over rape allegations
New Mexico readers may be interested to learn that a Washington nursing home is being sued by the family of a disabled woman who was allegedly raped multiple times by one of the facility's employees. The crimes were captured by a hidden camera.
Government website adds red icons to warn of nursing home abuse
About 5% of the nursing homes in New Mexico and around the country now have a red icon next to their name on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services website. The icons are placed on Nursing Home Compare pages to let potential residents or their family members know that government investigators have discovered evidence of abuse at the facility. Icons are placed when abuse within the last year directly led to a patient's harm or neglect or abuse could have harmed a patient in each of the last two years. The icons are updated monthly and removed if a facility goes incident-free for a full year.
