Choking
Many nursing home residents need assistance with eating. Many nursing home residents have dysphasia, which is a problem swallowing. Many nursing home residents don't have teeth or wear dentures. Many nursing home residents, because of their dementia, need assistance with eating and they cannot eat safely.
At the Dickson Firm we have handled many cases involving choking. These are tragic situations that can absolutely be avoided. We represented the family of a beautiful young women, who was mentally retarded and needed supervision while eating. She was left unattended and unfortunately, when she was not supervised, she would simply eat too fast, she would not drink fluids while she ate, and she tragically choked to death, alone in her room.
We represented the family of a wonderful gentleman, who had Alzheimer and dementia, and unfortunately wound up consuming a large sheet of plastic wrap that was covering his food when he was left to eat unattended, caused him to choke and eventually to die.
We recently resolved a case involving an individual who was supposed to be on a special diet, he was supposed to be supervised while eating. The nursing home provided him with a meal that was inappropriate for him. They did not supervise him while he was eating. They then allowed him to leave the dining room with food in his mouth and he ultimately choked to death in his room.
These are tragic cases. They can definitely be avoided
If someone you love is in a nursing home and they have specific needs when it comes to eating, you should talk with the administrator and/or the director of nursing and make sure that a specific plan of care is in place to make sure that their needs are addressed. Many nursing home residents need to be on special diets. Many nursing home residents need to only be allowed to consume certain foods based on their ability to swallow and based on their ability to chew. If your resident wears dentures, the nursing home need to make sure that those dentures are in place while eating. If they don't wear dentures and they don't have teeth, then they can only have certain foods because it is not safe to allow them to try to eat other foods that they can't chew because that creates a significant risk of choking. Many residents need supervision while eating.
We strongly recommend that you visit the nursing home at all different times. We strongly recommend that you show up unannounced at meal times. If your loved one consumers their meals in their room, you need to see whether or not someone is helping them. You need to see whether they are being supervised while eating. If they are eating in the dining room, you need to make sure that someone is supervising them. Is someone helping them?
Tragically, many nursing homes, because they are understaffed, leave the food trays in the resident’s room and don't help the resident eat their food. Many common foods can pose a risk to a resident who has issues with eating and swallowing. A simple peanut butter sandwich can be very dangerous for someone who has a swallowing issues or does not drink fluids during their meal. Oftentimes the medication the resident is on causes their mouth to be extremely dry which can then create a choking hazard.
All of these issues can be addressed with proper care. The secret is to make sure that there is a proper care plan in place and that care plan is followed by the staff at the nursing home.
When you admit your lived one to a nursing home, if they have issues with eating, ask the staff how they plan to address these issues. If your loved has a choking incident you must ask the staff how they plan to keep your loved one safe. If you talk with the administrator or the director of nursing and they are not receptive to your concerns, then we strongly recommend that you move your resident to a different nursing home.
If someone you love has been neglected or abused in a nursing home, please call us at 1-800-OHIO LAW. We would be happy to talk with you and help you in any way that we can.