The Dickson Firm represents nursing home residents and their families in cases against the owners and the operators of nursing homes throughout the State of Ohio.
We receive calls all the time from families whose loved one has choked in a nursing home.
There are numerous hazards in nursing homes that our clients should be aware of.
If someone you love has been neglected or abused in a nursing home, please call us at 1-800-OHIO LAW as we would be happy to talk with you and help you in any way that we can.
DENTURES
If your loved one has dentures, the nursing home must make sure to keep their dentures clean and to put their dentures in every day so that they can use them to eat their meals. Their dentures must fit properly. If their dentures don't fit properly, they can cause irritation which can make their mouth sore.
If a nursing home resident has a sore mouth, they may not eat when they are supposed to. If they don't eat on a regular basis, they can lose weight which can lead to weakness. Not receiving enough nutrition can lead to dizziness, which can lead to falls. Lack of nutrition can make them more susceptible to skin breakdown. Lack of nutrition can make it harder to heal skin breakdown if they have skin breakdown.
If they are not eating enough, they may be tired. They may not get out of bed as often as they should. They may not get the activities that they should. This can lead to a series of problems. Nursing home residents should be kept active. They should get up every day. They should go to therapy. They should move around as much as possible.
If they remain in bed or they remain in a chair all day, they can suffer skin breakdown. And they can have a number of other issues. If your loved one is not wearing their dentures they may not be able to eat certain foods safely. This can lead to them choking.
DYSPHAGIA
Some residents have swallowing problems, including a condition known as dysphagia. If a resident has swallowing difficulties, they might need to be on a special diet. You must make sure that your resident is on the appropriate diet for their needs.
You also want to make sure that they are receiving that diet. We recommend that you visit your loved one during mealtimes. Are they receiving the appropriate diet? Is someone assisting them if they need assistance?
Every resident's chart should have a care plan which details their needs and how their needs are being accommodated, including their need for certain types of foods. Their care plan should indicate if they need to have their foods prepared a certain way.
FOOD PREPARATION
Some residents need to have their foods pureed. Some residents can only eat soft foods. We have tragically seen cases where people have died as a result of receiving improper foods.
Some residents can't chew properly so they can't be served meat. They can't be served hot dogs. They can't be served foods that they can't chew properly. Some residents have to receive thickened liquids because of their swallowing problems.
THE NURSING HOME SHOULD MONITOR THEIR RESIDENTS’ WEIGHT
The nursing home should be monitoring your loved one. If your loved one is experiencing unintended weight loss, you should look into why this is occurring.
Unintended weight loss can lead to a series of problems and can even be fatal. Unintended weight loss can be caused by a series of issues, a number if which can be very serious.
Likewise if your loved one is gaining weight that should be questioned. Are they eating a healthy diet? Are they active? Are they retaining water?
SOME RESIDENTS NEED SUPERVISION WHILE EATING
If your resident has dementia or Alzheimer's Disease or if your loved one suffers from mental retardation, they may need supervision while eating.
We represented the family of a woman who tragically died because she was left unattended during meals. She suffered from mental retardation and did not pace herself when eating. She would stuff large quantities of food into her mouth. She literally choked to death alone in her room. It was a completely avoidable, heart breaking tragedy.
In addition to the hazards posed by food, some residents who suffer from dementia or Alzheimer's or other type of confusion, can ingest things that they shouldn't.
Nursing home residents need to be monitored. We tragically represented the family of a woman who wandered into the kitchen and consumed cleaning products and died as a result.
STRANGULATION
In addition to the hazards posed by food and various cleaning supplies and chemicals in the nursing home, some residents suffer strangulation. One of the reasons that a nursing home typically does not put the bed rails up on a resident's bed is because the resident can get caught in the bed rails and literally strangle.
For this reason, somebody who is at risk for falls should be placed in a low bed or on a mattress on the floor, with a mat next to their bed, not have the rails of their bed raised.
NURSING HOMES MIST HAVE A COMPREHENSIVE CARE PLAN FOR EACH RESIDENT
If someone you love is at risk for choking for any number of reasons, you should ask the nursing home to show you the care plan and show you how the nursing home is addressing the fact that they are at risk for choking. You should also ask the nursing home to show you where they are documenting how they are implementing that care plan.
Most nursing homes have a section of the chart known as the Documentation Survey Report or the Treatment Administration Record or TAR, and in that report or that TAR there should be different rows for different meals and then different columns for every single day of the month.
So, for example, on February 3 there should be a row for breakfast and a row for lunch and a row for dinner and, in some cases, a row for a snack. In each square for each meal for each day, there is typically a code. This code explains the resident's needs, how many people they need to help them, and what kind of help they need.
For example, some residents just need their meals set up. The staff simply needs to bring them their food, set them up in a chair or in their bed with utensils, make sure all the wrappings are taken off the food, and the residents can feed themselves. Some residents need assistance with eating. If an aid helps a resident with their meal, they typically initial the Treatment Administration Record or the Documentation Survey Report and show that they helped the resident with the meal.
Often residents eat in the dining room. However, some residents who eat in the dining room still need assistance. We represented the family of a man who died because he ingested a large piece of plastic food wrap and choked to death while eating a meal in the dining room. The aid who was supposed to be watching him wasn’t.
Tragically, we receive dozens of phone calls every year regarding cases that involve choking. If someone you love is in a nursing home, and they are at risk for choking, you must talk to the nursing home.
You must make sure that your loved one is comprehensively assessed for all of their needs, including their needs with respect to eating meals. You must make sure that their care plan addresses all of their needs. You should also ask to see documentation that the care plan is being implemented.
If someone you love has been neglected or abused in a nursing home, please call us at 1-800-OHIO LAW as we would be happy to talk with you and help you in any way that we can.
