Florida care aide: 'Don't feed him, he's dead'

zwiebel

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Employees at the Brookdale Deer Creek assisted living facility in Florida didn't exactly rush to help when a resident who used a wheelchair told them he thought he was having a heart attack. One told the man a 911 call would be a problem if it proved unnecessary, and his family might have to pay charges.

When the poor man duly proved he did indeed need an ambulance, by turning blue and passing away in the dining room, staff behaviour became even more bizarre. 'Don't feed him, he's dead' one aide is reported to have said, while another left a voice message for a colleague stating: 'We have to say the same thing about him'.

The state’s Agency for Health Care Administration has ordered a $10,000 fine against Summerville 17 LLC, doing business as Emeritus, at Deer Creek. A spokeswoman said improper conduct isn't tolerated at the facility. However:

This is not the first time the handling of emergency situations has been controversial at facilities that have become part of the merged company...A California woman died after employees refused to provide CPR in her Brookdale Senior Living community, saying it was against the facility’s policy, published reports in 2013 show. A 911 dispatcher pleaded for someone to help until paramedics could get there, reports show.

http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/news/dont-feed-him-he-is-dead-alf-fined-for-handling-of/nngMt/
 
Disgusting. This is what happens when health care is managed by big business. Sickens me. I bet a 10,000. Fine is peanuts to them.

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Totally repulsive behavior, and how these so-called healthcare providers at this nursing home can look themselves in the mirror at the end of the day is beyond me. IMO, they are dead inside; perhaps we shouldn't feed them...
 
this is awful and really makes me worry since we are currently faced with the decision of how to properly care for my f.i.l.
 
Disgusting. This is what happens when health care is managed by big business. Sickens me. I bet a 10,000. Fine is peanuts to them.

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I would want to know that everyone involved was fired and I would have an attorney filing a multimillionaire civil suit against the company that owns this facility. I wonder if the DA will bring charges against the ones directly responsible for (as Jack McCoy would say) reckless disregard. I know money won't bring this poor man back to his family but attacking the facility's pocketbook would hurt more than anything else.
 
The way it was handled was wrong. However , many people in a nursing facility do have a DNR on file. I think they have an RN on staff to make decisions when something like this happens .
 
The way it was handled was wrong. However , many people in a nursing facility do have a DNR on file. I think they have an RN on staff to make decisions when something like this happens .
Did he have a DNR? It's one thing to be at the end stage of life and cardiac arrest occurs and he has a DNR, its quite another thing to be having lunch, be in cardiac distress , ask for help, and be ignored, or told it will cost money if its a false alarm. Gross negligence if not worse. DNR or not.

As a matter of fact, a DNR has nothing to do with an alert patient at a dinner table complaining of chest pain and begging for help. Take him to bed, assess the situation. Call 911. DNR is about NOT REVIVING someone that has stopped breathing. Nothing to do with basic healthcare of an alert patient begging for medical assistance. And the comments that were made afterward kill me. (I'm not ranting at you, I've just seen some pretty ugly things in some nursing facilities).

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Ninji9--the post above is one of those where thanks wasn't enough! We MUST start treating our elderly and small children like PEOPLE instead of patients or a paycheck or a nuisance!!!
 
Employees at the Brookdale Deer Creek assisted living facility in Florida didn't exactly rush to help when a resident who used a wheelchair told them he thought he was having a heart attack. One told the man a 911 call would be a problem if it proved unnecessary, and his family might have to pay charges.

When the poor man duly proved he did indeed need an ambulance, by turning blue and passing away in the dining room, staff behaviour became even more bizarre. 'Don't feed him, he's dead' one aide is reported to have said, while another left a voice message for a colleague stating: 'We have to say the same thing about him'.

The state’s Agency for Health Care Administration has ordered a $10,000 fine against Summerville 17 LLC, doing business as Emeritus, at Deer Creek. A spokeswoman said improper conduct isn't tolerated at the facility. However:



http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/news/dont-feed-him-he-is-dead-alf-fined-for-handling-of/nngMt/

Most assisted living facilities are not nursing homes and unless your state has written laws causing them to be treated legally the same as each other, be very careful what you sign. If they do not have nurses that are CPR certified, authorized to tell doctors of changes in patients, etc., it is not a nursing home. A medication aide is not a nurse. A nurses aide is not a nurse. If you have signed papers for a do-not-resuscitate, it is illegal for staff to perform it on your loved one, no matter how hard a third party like a 911 operator cries. Yes, assisted living talks up their services and different states do it differently. Please be aware of what legal documents you and your loved one have signed that are still in effect. No, what happened here is not right. But without any more info provided, I cannot tell if this was even licensed staff or what the family or patient signed off for them to do. It would be a HIPPA violation right now if we did know.
 
Did he have a DNR? It's one thing to be at the end stage of life and cardiac arrest occurs and he has a DNR, its quite another thing to be having lunch, be in cardiac distress , ask for help, and be ignored, or told it will cost money if its a false alarm. Gross negligence if not worse. DNR or not.

As a matter of fact, a DNR has nothing to do with an alert patient at a dinner table complaining of chest pain and begging for help. Take him to bed, assess the situation. Call 911. DNR is about NOT REVIVING someone that has stopped breathing. Nothing to do with basic healthcare of an alert patient begging for medical assistance. And the comments that were made afterward kill me. (I'm not ranting at you, I've just seen some pretty ugly things in some nursing facilities).

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I have to but this is called an assisted living facility. In my state, this is not a nursing facility.. I don't even know if the personnel are RNs, LPNs, aides, or just untrained caregivers taking care of a few people in a boarding house situation.
 
I have to but this is called an assisted living facility. In my state, this is not a nursing facility.. I don't even know if the personnel are RNs, LPNs, aides, or just untrained caregivers taking care of a few people in a boarding house situation.
I agree, I was responding to a posters thoughts about a DNR. This actually makes it worse though doesn't it? A human being requests assistance because he is in medical distress and the aide doesn't respond because if he isn't dying then the family will have to pay for the ambulance. If I read that right, that is so sad.

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The aide likely made the comment about not feeding him to try to lighten a stressful situation. Tasteless, yes, but it happens with healthcare workers. Sometimes you have to try to distance yourself from the situation.

As far as not calling 911, there is no reasonable explanation for that. Having a DNR on file does not end access to health care. Maybe this man had been sent out repeatedly for similar symptoms only to be returned to the facility with a diagnosis of UTI (most elderly people have frequent UTIs due to inadequate fluid intake) or nothing found, but that is no excuse for not calling 911.
 
I'm really not sure what to make of this, apart from the fact there attitudes stink to high heaven,

Most in care homes do have dnrs in place , a lot also request that upon illness under no circumstances should they be taken to hospital,
If in pain (in the uk) end of life medication would be prescribed , pain relief , sedatives

A few months ago I had a resident who had a dnr in place and his care plan stated under no circumstances should he be sent to hospital if he was deteriorating ,

Only this resident began to bleed internally (won't go into detail but it had been a long time illness ) I was the carer and went against the family and called an ambulance, there is no way I was going to let this man bleed to death in my care .

He passed away 3 weeks later .

The very least these carers could have done was dialled 911 or RGN to examine him.

I hope this place is closed down and reviewed promptly .

If anyone is thinking or does have family in care homes please please please thoroughly review the care plans with staff so that your loved ones wishes are taken care of, it's there job to make sure your loved ones are getting the best possibly care ,
 
this is awful and really makes me worry since we are currently faced with the decision of how to properly care for my f.i.l.

One tip -- choose a facility with a camera system. Many of these large care providers do NOT install camera systems unless they have numerous "life threatening" incidents.

If the staff can access occupant rooms theft is often rampant even in the independent living apartment type places that only provide maid service and meals.

It is very sad, often the elderly can only take a few of their most prized possessions when they move into the small apartments and then they have to worry about their stuff being stolen every time they leave the room.
 
I hope this place is closed down and reviewed promptly .

The place is owned/run by Brookdale, they are the largest assisted living provider in the country with several hundred places all across the US. It isn't just this "one" place, obviously the staff was poorly trained and incompetent, I would expect that could be a very widespread problem.
 

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