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Nursing Home/ Rehab Abuse: My Experience as a Victim [1]

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Date: 2022-09-08

Abuse in nursing home / rehab facilities

With all that is going on of more importance in the world this domestic issue will probably gain few readers. Still, I had to write this though it might seem more of a rant.

Things happen in life that everyone thinks would never happen to them. That is exactly the experience I had last year. I will explain it but must avoid naming names, location and exact dates to dodge any possibility of a libel suit blowback.

It all started with an unexpected health disaster – diverticulitis that created an abscess in my sigmoid intestine. Emergency surgery left me with 25 steel staples closing a deep abdominal incision from the removal of the infected section of intestine and reconnect, a temporary ileostomy bag to allow the reconnect time to heal and cellulitis in my right lower leg probably the result of the abdominal infection that spread. I was sent to a rehab/nursing home facility to recover my ability to function before going home. You don’t realize how much your core muscles in your abdomen have to do with walking unless you are a runner or dancer. I was also on Oxycontin for pain and Ativan for anxiety.

I spent my first week in a room alone at the end of a hall. I did not feel like eating solids or drinking much, though had protein drinks, nibbled food I could stomach and water. I was never told I needed to drink as much as possible due to the ileostomy draining water from the digestive tract that would normally be absorbed in the large intestine. Remember this for later. I was transferred to a room with a roommate when my room was suddenly needed for a covid patient.

To cut to the chase, this roommate was supposed to be confined to a wheelchair but could and would walk on his own or push the chair for support. I was still on Oxycontin and Ativan but only at night because I had complained it was making me too groggy. After my medication one night, and just before I started to sleep, the roommate assaulted me by grabbing my ankles and shaking me hard enough to almost pull me out of bed. I was lucky my hand was on the call button. Had he grabbed my ileostomy bag or abdomen, I would not be writing this. A CNA came in, pulled him away, and put him to bed telling me he said he thought I was dead. No excuse. Had I been more alert and functioning, I would have written down the time and date and raised hell to defend myself. I found out later from a nurse that he had dementia and could be violent. This was not the only incident while I was there.

Next came the dehydration issue. Because no one let me know I needed more liquids besides the small plastic pitcher of water, I ended up with dehydration and kidney failure. While throwing up, I had to argue with the night nurse to get me back to the hospital. She relented and I was at the hospital for four days where I was rehydrated, and kidneys went back to normal function. I was sent back to the facility to continue rehab with an order for them to see to it I had a sports drink with electrolytes twice a day. By then I was eating and walking.

About a week before I was released home, my roommate attacked the night staff, pushed a nurse so hard against the wall outside our room that her wrist was almost broken and made it obvious he had the violent form of dementia. It took a good half hour to get control of him and the doctor was called for medication. I went out in the hall when it was over and told a nurse to have him moved out of the room or move me out and I was going to report this to the social worker the next day. The social worker was not in the next day, but they moved him out to the room next door, however he kept wandering back. I ended up with another roommate that a CNA warned me could get violent. Only good thing was he slept most of the time or stayed out in the hall in a wheelchair.

Not long after I got home, I complained to a friend about the month and a half of hell I had been through. Having worked at a law firm, my friend said to make a complaint to the local ombudsman, which I did. They did an inspection but found no records of either attack and none of the patients or staff who witnessed the attack would come forward on either incident. Meanwhile, at home I had depression and panic attacks while recovering with the help of a visiting nurse. I told her what happened, and she said she worked part time in an out of state rehab/nursing home facility that kept violent dementia patients in a lock down hall and that such patients should not be mixed with the general population.

Around that time while talking to another friend out of state who was a psychiatrist doing research at a major university, I told him what happened and how I was not feeling right. He asked me several questions and diagnosed my problem as PTSD. He also suggested contacting the local senior legal aid for further investigation and a lawsuit.

I went on to contact legal aid. The advised me only that there was a two-year statute of limitations in our state for nursing home abuse and that because I could not afford to pay an attorney that I should seek out one of those attorneys that have ads on TV that only charge if they win the case. I tried three and got a flat no. Seems I would have to be on kidney dialysis for them to handle it and with no written evidence on record except the hospital record on dehydration the assault would be considered hearsay mainly because I was on drugs and the facility would claim they were short staffed. It was plain PTSD resulting from an assault did not count in such cases.

Meanwhile this facility is still operating with the danger of someone getting seriously hurt or worse. From what a CNA told me after the roommate attacked the night staff, the facility is run by a for profit corporation, and they do everything to keep beds full. I’m still paying a substantial bill my insurance will not cover for a stay that has adversely affected my life. There are days I don’t want to leave the house and I live paycheck to paycheck and must work or end up homeless. So, I must push myself. I am not on any therapy for PTSD because my insurance only covers certain therapists in my area, and no one is taking on new clients. The statute of limitations will be over as of spring 2023. Some friends say let it go… but let it go does not cut it.

Thank you for reading my rant.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/9/8/2121537/-Nursing-Home-Rehab-Abuse-My-Experience-as-a-Victim

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