State Home Failed to Control Resident

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

Staff at a state run nursing home for veterans failed to control a resident who engaged in bizarre behavior and became belligerent and combative when anyone tried to re-direct him.
"The facility failed to report, investigate and monitor potential resident-to-resident incidents" states the May 25 report on the Southwest Veterans Center in Pittsburgh.
According to the state Health Department report, the unidentified resident would go into another resident's room, dressed or undressed, and then get into the other resident's bed, whether the other resident was already in the bed or not.
Staff attempts to redirect the resident triggered "very belligerent and combative" behavior, the report states.
The report notes that the resident apparently suffered from Sundowner's Syndrome, a condition not uncommon among dementia patients. Those suffering from the condition may become confused and combative later in the day.
The nursing home was faulted for not reporting the incidents to the state despite the fact that at least 11 staffers were aware of the resident-on-resident incidents.
The resident had been admitted in early March with a diagnosis of vascular dementia yet the facility had failed to develop a care plan to address his behaviors.
In a plan of correction filed by the nursing home, officials said that the resident was moved to a private room and checks on the patient were made every 15 minutes.
The state surveyors had found that staff failed to perform those checks on three days in mid-May.
The Health Department report also cites the facility for failing to obtain physician authorizations for patients requiring dialysis.
For one patient there were no physician authorizations for two full months.
Another state run veterans nursing home in Scranton was cited by state surveyors for failing to investigate a possible case of patient abuse.
The patient's daughter had complained that her father had a bruise on his back when he was taken to a hospital emergency room. The daughter reported the bruise to nursing home officials but it was never investigated.
Officials of the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, which runs the homes, did not immediately respond to questions about the reports.
Contact: wfrochejr999@gamil.com