My mother's in a NH due to mobility issues - I can no longer transfer her myself because she isn't strong enough to use a sit-to-stand. She got there two days before Illinois locked down NH's to visitors in March.
So many problems with the NH, I can't list them all in one post but will touch on the main ones.
1) She doesn't have a wheelchair that fits her properly (seat being too high cuts into the backs of her legs and makes them swell and she has wounds from the circulation problems).
2) Her bed leans to one side because it's broken. Gravity causes her to slide to that side and pins her against the siderail. They don't answer the light to reposition her (or say they don''t have a helper so they can't do it), and her arm goes numb. Multiple employees have complained about it being broken, management just says they don't have another one so deal with it.
3) Daily wound care is not being done - last week she went three days in a row without getting dressings changed. Ombudsman is pretty much useless, but he did say that not doing dressing changes was a form of neglect and reported it to the state. State investigator came out over the weekend and of course the nurse put on a show, changing the dressings in front of the investigator and doing it in a way totally different than usual - the proper way! Nurse told mom they only have time to do it that way when the state is there.
Mom eats breakfast in bed every day, and many days doesn't get out of bed because they either didn't have a clean hoyer sling available or don't have two CNA's available to transfer her. She generally has to beg, or I have to call and complain, to get out of bed before lunch. When I was on the phone with her earlier, she said she'd put her light on and asked to get back in bed because the recliner they had her in (which doesn't fit her properly either) was hurting her backside and legs, and also because she was wet. CNA told her that she was not allowed to put her back in bed until after dinner and that she'd send the nurse in to discuss it. Nurse came in while we were on the phone, very belligerent, telling her she could not go back to bed because the administrator's new rule was that she couldn't eat in bed anymore. The recliner doesn't sit her up as straight as the bed does, and they can't get the tray over her in the recliner, they have to just put it on the side of the chair which makes it hard for her to eat. She has no medical issues making her any type of choking risk. Nurse very nastily told her if she goes back to bed, she just won't get to eat dinner. Meanwhile she is sitting in urine. They were two hours late with her pain medication last dose, and her legs are cramping from being in the same position in the recliner for so long.
I've asked nicely, complained politely, then complained more forcefully in voice mails to DON and administrator - neither ever answer the phone - about all of this except today's issue. Mom's perfectly competent mentally, but they never come to see her or call her back when she leaves messages for them. This smacks of retaliation for the ombudsman sending the state out to investigate. From what the employees tell us, the state is out there investigating complaints every few weeks and management is ticked.
We've had to fight to get her out to specialist appointments and to the dentist (she had pain from three bad teeth from June until last week!). Her specialists are appalled. She's not getting PT even though her private health insurance will pay for it. They are not allowing her to have her own pcp - saying everyone there has to use their medical director as their pcp and he's useless and downright dangerous! They try to force her to use products she's allergic to, try to give her the wrong meds quite frequently, etc. She's been in short-term rehab before many times and never had a facility be as controlling and incompetent as this one.
What else can I do? It's heartbreaking and stressful.
I had issues with a nursing home when mom did rehab too. Fortunately, mom’s issues were resolved.
I wouldn’t hesitate to speak to an attorney on this matter. Do whatever you need to do. You have already gone up the ladder without issues being resolved.
Wishing you and your mom all the best.