Violations Involving Physical Abuse
The state inspection reports and citations documented that many residents were subjected to serious physical abuse by nursing home staff. This physical abuse caused numerous injuries, including a fractured femur," a fractured hip," a fractured elbow," severe bruises," lacerations of the head, neck, and hands," bruises to the eye and bruises to the thigh," a fractured wrist, 2' a fractured thumb," and a variety of other injuries.
In an Illinois nursing home, a staff member
cursed at a resident and then hit her in the face, breaking her
nose and bloodying her mouth. The resident was in respiratory
distress after the incident and required oxygen and continued
suctioning as she was coughing up bright red blood. According
to interviews with state inspectors, the abusive aide had walked
into the resident's room stating to her, "You're going to
help me this time. I'm tired of your ass." Despite the fact
that this staff member had a history of abusive behavior towards
residents, no investigation of the incident was conducted by
administrators on site and the incident was not resolved until
intervention by the local police department six days later.
In a Missouri nursing home, an 80-year old stroke victim suffering
from dementia and impaired short- and long-term memory was violently
abused on repeated occasions. This resident was locked in a bathroom,
hit with a belt, dragged on his knees, and hit in the head with
a book by nursing home employees. Nursing home employees also
used cigarettes to bribe a brain-damaged 50-year old resident
to attack the 80-year old resident. Because of the resident's
impaired memory, family members did not learn of the abuse until
another staff member at the facility reported the incident."
In a case involving an Ohio nursing home, a resident was abused by a staff member who "yanked" him out of bed, "slammed" him into a chair, closed off the resident's nose with his hand to cut off his airway, pried back the resident's thumb, verbally abused him, and let him fall to the floor. The staff person was not disciplined and continued to work at the facility." In another case involving an Ohio nursing home, a resident was observed with severe lacerations on the ear, skin tears, and bruising on his neck and hands. When asked by two staff members who had hurt him, the resident replied, "He'll beat me up again if I tell you." Later, the resident identified a male aide, who confessed to abusing the resident."
In another case, a Michigan nursing home resident was attacked by an aide who hit him in the eye. This resident stated that the staff member was in a "rage." The resident's roommate also complained about the rough treatment by this staff member, stating, "He's sadistic. It seems he likes to hurt people." Upon review of the nursing home's personnel files, state inspectors found that this aide had been alleged to have also sexually molested a female resident and had numerous disciplinary and work-related complaints. The sexual abuse allegation had not been investigated or reported to the state.
In a California nursing home, a resident was pushed to the ground by a staff member, who was observed "kicking the resident on the sides of her body and her face.""
In many other cases, the instances of physical abuse involved nursing homes that failed to protect residents from assaults by other residents. For example:
In an Indiana nursing home, a resident was killed by another resident. The abusive resident had a long history of exhibiting explosive physical and verbal aggression towards residents and staff. His records contained over 50 instances of abusive behavior; he had a criminal record; and he was described by a psychiatrist as "an accident looking for a place to happen." But the nursing home did not intervene to protect vulnerable residents from the abusive resident. The resident who was killed was standing in a hallway when the attacker approached her, called her a "f---ing b----" grabbed her by her arms, lifted her off the floor, and slammed her against a wall. The resident was knocked unconscious and suffered a cerebral contusion. Three weeks later the resident died, and her death was ruled a homicide by the County Coroner."
In a Colorado nursing home, the facility failed to protect residents from an abusive resident with an I I -month history of attacking other residents. During this period, the resident was involved in 39 reported incidents of physical and verbal aggression, including throwing water pitchers at other residents, punching a female resident in the face, and spitting on and threatening to kill other residents. In the most extreme instance, the abusive resident attacked a female resident, who suffered "hematomas to both eyes, [her] lip was black and blue, [and] both forearms had skin tom to the tendons.
In a similar instance in a Long Island nursing home, the facility failed to protect residents from an abusive resident despite at least 25 reported incidents of abuse over a four-month period. These incidents included hitting, kicking, slapping, and biting other residents, throwing chairs at other residents, and squeezing the breasts of female residents."
In another Long Island nursing home, the facility failed to protect residents from an abusive resident who fought with other residents and took their belongings. At one point, the abusive resident smothered his roommate's face with a pillow.
In an Illinois nursing home, the facility failed to protect a resident who was assaulted in three separate physical alterations with other residents, including one in which the resident fractured his hip. A resident of the same nursing home suffered a fractured elbow when assaulted by another resident."
in an Oklahoma nursing home, there were seven instances of residents being physically abused by other residents during a one-month period. In one incident, the abuse fractured a resident's hip, requiring hospitalization. In another incident at the facility, a resident was hit in the head with dishware. According to inspectors, the facility also failed to control aggressive behavior by a resident who hit another resident seven times in the face."
If you believe a loved one has been subjected to abuse, contact us for an legal evaluation of your situation.
* Special Investigations Division of the House Government Reform Committee in 2001