Helen Menneke (83 years old), formerly of Mundelein (IL), was admitted to Winchester House in Libertyville in January of 2004, suffering from dementia. She fell several times over the course of the year, suffering a brain injury and broken bones. After one such fall, nurses implemented an alarm system for beds and wheelchairs. Injuries from a final fall in December of 2004 required surgery, and Menneke died in January 2005.
After Menneke's death, Winchester House instituted new policies requiring staff to more frequently check patients' wheelchair and bed alarms to ensure they're working properly. The resident's family was outraged by the poor care provided by the nursing home and filed a negligence suit against the facility which was settled for $1 million.
My Question: Why did an elderly person have to die before the facility "instituted new policies" to prevent such tragedies?
Saturday, November 08, 2008
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1 comments:
This case brings up a very hard "Darned if you do, darned if you dont" problem. First, when the alarm goes off it is still hard to run fast enough to catch a determined patient. Secondly, soft restaints that prevent patients from trying to get up have resulted in suits as well. So what do you do? You can try to have a CNA in each room and watch each patient, but of course this is unaffordable.
So, what is the solution?
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