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Sent to May 04, 2006 10:40 p.m.
father in nursing home, pressure very high, he is on lasix and linisiprol, but still high, and they are a bad place and his doctor just says don't worry, he is medical director of the facility and doesn't give a damn. it goes as high as 225/116, I am not poa, can't move him. is there anything I can do to lower it safely, they won't listen, he is bedridden, a trach tube, feeding tube, and catheter in penis.   he is neglected badly, so I stay each weekend. also since he is on prednisone, his sugar gets to sometimes as high as 309,. and the chart will only allow insulin if it goes over 200. and I can tell when the sugar and pressure are high, as he is all red in his face, they don't listen or care, neither does the poa, my sister, is there anything I can do to help him, maybe a natural cure, or something, anything. he is pathetic. he has had two strokes and one heart attack, and could have been up if he had gotten the therapy he was supposed to have. anyway, is there anyway to help him. I can't get him to exercise, he is too weak, 6 yrs in bed, out once to twice a week in summer in a chair outside. thank you, in Christ Jesus, carol ann mikita, email, zincavage@comcast.net ps. I get the sugar lowered, by substituting glucerna once a day, instead of the novasource which he had to have as he was terribly engorged, especially the scrotum which was the size of a grapefruit. with that and the protein stores elevated and the albumin in the liver elevated since the novasource and blood pressure bills, he is not engorged at all. when he has high pressure, they still overload him with too much water too fast, don't follow the charts, when I am there, since I know what 's on the charts, I add, or take down, or slow down the water, but can't be there 24 hours a day. the glucerna does take down his sugar from almost 300 to 164-184, but can only give it once as two cans I found out with the water content- raise his blood pressure and even when it is high, they still hang a 600cc bag, fast, as soon as they leave the room, I empty it to 250cc which is ordered (I am a nutritionist) and slow it down. do you know anything I can do to keep his pressure down a little, or his sugar when I don't have the money for the glucerna, as I need several six packs a week. . I know it is the prednisone.
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May 05, 2006 4:25 a.m. (5 hours and 45 minutes later)
You should contest your father's Power of Attorney (your sister) since she doesn't care about your father's quality of care. You will need to hire an attorney and then once you become your father's Power of Attorney you will have the duty of finding a more appropriate long-term care facility for your father.

In the meantime, you should communicate with the Ombudsman everything just as you have written it in this post on the JustAnswer! site. Keep a journal with the date and time and the specifics of the inappropriate quality of care issues that you observe. You must document everything so that you can objectively present your case before an objective State team of inspectors who are required to follow-up on all nursing home complaints. An Ombudsman is an advocate for residents of nursing homes, board and care homes, and assisted living. Ombudsmen provide information about how to find a facility and what to do to get quality care. They are trained to resolve problems. The ombudsman can assist you with complaints. However, unless you give the ombudsman permission to share your concerns, these matters are kept confidential.

Under the federal Older Americans Act, every state is required to have an Ombudsman Program that addresses complaints and advocates for improvements in the long term care system. To find the ombudsman nearest you, contact your State Ombudsman office. Here is the web site where all you do is click on a state to go directly to that state's ombudsman. http://www.ltcombudsman.org/static_pages/ombudsmen.cfm

Any person (not just family members of residents) can file a complaint with the Department of Health Services, Licensing and Certification Division (LCD). LCD is the state agency that enforces nursing home laws and regulations. You can file a complaint about any aspect of care, staffing, your rights, safety, treatment and other matters governed by law. You should file a complaint when problems are serious, and after you have exhausted other dispute remedies. Start by communicating with staff or a family council. If this does not help, contact the county's Ombudsman office to request that it intercede or file a complaint on your behalf. If this does not help, file a complaint yourself with LCD.

To determine which LCD office to contact, see the list of Licensing & Certification District Offices for your particular State Department of Health Services. Complaints may be made orally or in writing. If you phone in a complaint, follow up with a written complaint to ensure a paper trail. Taking notes or keeping a written log will enable you to retrieve specifics later. When writing a complaint, be brief but complete. No investigator wants to read a long letter to figure out what's going on. Stick with the facts (e.g. "the medical director ordered an inappropriate tube feeding for my father, my father's blood pressure is not controlled, my father has been admitted to the acute hospital for neglect of his trach, MRSA, etc. etc."), and avoid stating generalities (e.g. "the facility is guilty of abuse") and avoid stating things unless you actually witnessed them (e.g. "women molested, people beaten"), and do not make irrational statements (e.g. "the place should be burned down").

Your complaint should include: (1) Name and address of the facility (2) Your name, address, phone number, and relation to the resident (3) Name of the resident on whose behalf the complaint is made (4)Date(s) and time(s) of incidents (5) Specific complaints (6) Names of witnesses (including other health care providers, such as hospital personnel) (7) Names of staff, if relevant to the complaint (8) Records that should be examined (e.g. if the number of staff were less than legally appropriate on a specific date then state that the personnel attendance sheet should be examined for such and such a date and time of the day.)

Licensing and Certification Department must initiate an investigation within ten (10) working days of receipt of the complaint. However, if the complaint involves a threat of imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm, LCD must investigate onsite within 24 hours of receipt of the complaint.

You and your father (the resident) have the right to be free from retaliation for a complaint. Any type of discriminatory treatment within 180 days after a complaint is filed is presumed to be retaliatory and is punishable by a civil fine of up to $10,000.

You have the right to remain anonymous. Licensing and Certification must keep your identity (and that of any other person named in the complaint) anonymous to the facility. In your complaint, you can also specifically request to remain anonymous. Please note that anonymity can sometimes make it difficult to substantiate a complaint.

You have the right to accompany the investigator to the facility. If you wish to do so, include this request in your complaint. Licensing and Certification should notify you as to the name of the investigator and should give you up to one-half working day notice of their scheduled, unannounced visit to the facility. Requests to accompany the investigator may not be granted if Licensing and Certification determines that doing so would violate residents' privacy.

You have the right to a response. Within 10 working days of the completion of its investigation they must notify you in writing of their findings.

If you are dissatisfied with the findings, you have the right to an informal conference. To request the informal conference, write to the administrator of the local Licensing and Certification office within 15 business days of receipt of the findings.

http://www.canhr.org/complaint.htm#howtofile


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