In skilled nursing facilities, one of the busiest and most hectic times of the day is mealtime. For dementia patients, mealtime is an extremely significant indicator of quality of life. Recently, a study titled “Factor’s Affecting Independence in Eating among Elderly with Alzheimer’s Disease” was published in the journal of…
Clostridium difficile, abbreviated as C. difficile, is just one of the many infections that are common in nursing homes. Caused by inflammation of the colon, some symptoms include diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, fever, and cramping. Because residents of skilled nursing facilities live in such close quarters, infections are…
While polypharmacy, the use of multiple drugs simultaneously, is known to have dangerous effects on the physical and psychological health of patients, other causes of adverse drug reactions among the elderly population are lesser known. A study, titled “Geriatric Conditions and Adverse Drug Reaction in Elderly Hospitalized Patients,” published in…
Each year, approximately 1.7 falls occur per nursing home bed. Because falls can lead to hip fractures, head trauma, and other injuries that may lead to death, analyzing the causes of falls and establishing prevention techniques is extremely important in assuring that your loved one’s nursing home is promoting the…
In a recent issue of the Canadian Journal on Healing, the Canadian Association on Gerontology conducted “A Survey of Nursing Home Organizational Characteristics Associated with Potentially Avoidable Hospital Transfers and Care Quality in One Large British Columbia Health Region.” The researchers first examined previous studies on avoiding hospitalization in nursing…
Recently, as reported by The Baltimore Sun on January 12, 2012, certain health care groups have been engaging in a practice called “upcoding.” This increasingly prevalent practice involves healthcare providers reporting more serious medical conditions to the government, in order to receive higher reimbursement rates. In this specific case, an…
On January 10, 2012, Bloomberg News featured a story about Omnicare, a pharmaceutical company, that adjusted its billing records and reported false information to government health programs, such as Medicare and Medi-Cal, in order to increase its own profits. According to the report, the government may have lost millions of…
In the January issue of the Journal of American Medical Directors Association, an article titled “When is a Chronic Wound Infected?” studies various methods of determining when a chronic wound is infected and judges which of these methods is most accurate. The article begins by explaining that the skin is…
Loss of muscle strength in elderly adults is an extremely serious problem because it occurs within the entire elderly population. Between the ages of fifty and seventy, adults lose thirty percent of their muscle strength. As they approach the age of seventy, elderly adults experience a loss in muscle strength…
Pressure sores, also known as decubitus ulcers or bed-sores, are common in elderly adults who are not properly cared for or neglected. They are especially prevalent among those who reside in nursing homes, often as a direct result of neglect by caregivers. Pressure sores can occur when a patient remains…