After the Department of Health investigated The Gardens at Blue Ridge here in Harrisburg, surveyors reported it did not comply with Federal Regulations.
The facility did not:
Protect its residents from accidents when a nurse assistant brought food into a resident’s room and spilled it on the resident, burning her. The CNA for whatever reason was not using a tray to carry: two dinner plates, bowl of salad, bowl of tomato soup. The CNA tripped when going around one resident’s bed and the hot tomato soup went onto the inside of the resident’s leg. She cried out in pain. The resident had to have wound care on the inside of her leg. The Department felt the nursing home failed to follow its own procedure as well as the Federal Regulations.
Keep medication errors to five percent in the on-site portion of the investigation. Licensed Practical Nurses, or LPN’s were seen making mistakes with medication in three of the 33 evaluations the DOH’s surveyor made in one day. That is almost double the acceptable medication error rate.
Do what is ordered to maintain or improve residents’ range of motion. Range of motion is how well a resident can move and flex their arms and legs. It is important in order to maintain or increase a resident’s ability to get around and move in bed. Two residents had written doctors’ orders in their chart to have daily work done to maintain or improve their range of motion. The nursing home only did the ordered therapy seven times in about three weeks for one resident, and only seven times in thirty days for another resident.
There were a number of other violations, which may be indicative of significant, systemic problems with staffing levels.
If you or a loved one has been neglected or abused in a nursing home, call one of the Harrisburg nursing home abuse lawyers at Schmidt Kramer. Our phone number is (717) 888-8888.