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We previously weighed in on a federal investigation that revealed the underreporting of staffing at several nursing home facilities. Now, lawmakers seek to remedy the problem with newly introduced legislation, according to McKnight's Long-Term Care News. Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut) and Democratic Representative Jan Schakowsky (Illinois) introduced The Quality Care for Nursing Home Residents Act under...

The federal government has begun fine-tuning how it tells people about good and bad nursing homes by displaying online a white-on-red hand alert icon. The alert icon is posted for nursing homes that have been cited for incidents of abuse, neglect or exploitation. It began showing up on the nursing homes' rating page on United States...

Whenever we see a news story about the horrors in America's nursing homes, the focal point is often physical abuse, falls, medication errors, bedsores, and sexual assault. Not as much attention seems to be paid to the cleanliness and safety of nursing home kitchens. Not nearly as much as should be, anyway, according to NBC News....

If you're unfamiliar with Candida auris (C. auris), now is the time to familiarize yourself with this potentially deadly fungus. That's because it's becoming a growing threat in many nursing homes and could affect your loved one. It's a highly-contagious and drug-resistant pathogen, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Since entering the...

When we hear about the horror stories of abuse and neglect in nursing homes and assisted living centers, it leaves an underlying uncertainty within us all. It makes us question if we can trust that these facilities will care for and protect our loved ones. Sadly, many facilities employ dangerous and abusive staff members who...

Falls in nursing homes happen far too often and can result in causing serious and life-threatening injuries to elderly residents. Health conditions, such as arthritis, diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and vertigo, are among the leading risk factors that put seniors in danger of falling. According to research which analyzed death certificates maintained by the National Center...

Here’s a sentence that loved ones of a nursing home resident would rather not hear: “The patient was rescued before the train got there, but it was a very close call.” The sentence was in a story on AlbanyHerald.com that discussed patterns of serious health and safety violations at nursing homes nationwide, including in Georgia. The...

Surprise inspections are scheduled to strike nursing homes after federal officials learned most facilities had fewer nurses and staff on duty than they reported. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the crackdown in a Nov. 30, 2018 memo to state inspectors. “Since nurse staffing is directly related to the quality of...

Millions of senior citizens are placed in nursing homes every year as a way to increase the levels of care they receive for chronic illnesses and because they can no longer care for themselves while living alone. Even elderly men and women living in supervised nursing facilities can still be at risk of debilitating strokes,...

Sepsis is an infection common in nursing home residents that can become painful and deadly, if untreated. The problem is taking a growing human and financial toll, according to a recent study. The September 2018 study by the Chicago Tribune and Kaiser Health News found 25,000 nursing home residents die each year after being transferred...