Researchers analyzing 82 different studies on nursing home care found that nursing homes that are run as not-for-profit businesses offer better care than their for-profit counterparts. In the United States, less that one-third of all nursing homes are non-profit. The 82 studies were from both the U.S. and Canada, and…
Southern California Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog
Caretaker Accused of Rape in Assisted Living Home
SANTA BARBARA – Sheriffs have arrested a 35-year-old man in the alleged rape of a 36-year-old developmentally disabled woman. Christopher Coates was arrested last Wednesday and is being held on $100,000 bail. According to new accounts, Coates was a caregiver at a residential care facility in Santa Barbara County (the…
How to Evaluate a Residential Care Facility or Assisted Living Home
Unlike nursing homes, residential care facilities or assisted living facilities are not subject to the same regulation and government oversight. One can’t simply log on to the myriad of nursing home evaluation websites to look at the latest inspection reports or complaint investigation. So how do you adequately evaluate a…
Tustin Nursing Home Fined After Choking Death
The Orange County nursing home Tustin Care Center has received a citation and a fine of $50,000 by the California Department of Public Health after a resident choked to death during lunch. A state investigation concluded that the nursing home’s failure to adequately assess the patient’s growing inability to eat…
Nurses on Drugs! Coming to a Nursing Home Near You
As California starts to overhaul the regulation of its 350,000 registered nurses, one of the nursing board’s most promoted and trouble programs is under the microscope. The nursing drug diversion program, which seeks to help nurses maintain their licenses while they kick addiction to drugs, has apparently not been the…
Nursing Home Administrators See Salary Boost
The great recession hasn’t impacted everyone negatively. While the salaries and compensation for nurses has remained stagnant, the salaries for nursing home administrators have climbed to its highest rate in four years. According to a study by the Nursing Home Salary and Benefits Report from Hospital & Healthcare Compensation Service,…
California Senate Restores Ombudsman Funding to Protect Abused and Neglected Nursing Home Residents
The California State Assembly voted overwhelmingly to approve Assembly Bill 392, which would immediately restore $1.6 million to Long-Term Care Ombudsman programs throughout the state. Much of the funding to the programs was cut last year when Gov. Schwarzenegger vetoed the Ombudsman funding request. In June 2009, a nursing home…
Elder Abuse Cases Not Seen As Serious Crimes
Elder abuse cases are rarely reported, and even more rarely prosecuted. “Elder abuse cases, for whatever inappropriate reason, are not considered as severe,” said Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco. The reasons for the low reporting and prosecuting are varied. There is the embarrassment of being a victim, and in…
California Nursing Board Replaced After Investigation
After a L.A.Times and ProPublica investigtion found that violent or negligent nurses were allowed to stay on the job for years because of slow responses from the California Board of Nursing, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger fired three of the seven appointees to the board. The Governor also named six new members…
Value of Nursing Home Rating System Debated
It’s been almost six months since Nursing Home Compare was launched, and all of the nations 15,600 nursing homes were listed and rated by the U.S. government. The reviews are in, and it’s no blockbuster, but it isn’t a flop. For consumers, it’s been mostly a good thing. It is…