Written by Lisa Chedekel
A Cromwell nursing home faces a fine from the state Department of Public Health for failing to properly monitor the food and fluid intake of a resident whose weight plummeted, while five other nursing homes face penalties for other patient-care lapses.
The DPH has fined the Aurora Senior Living of Cromwell $615 for deficits in care that led to the hospitalization of a cognitively-impaired resident in November. A care plan directed the nursing home’s staff to monitor the resident’s weight weekly and to ensure that he or she eat at least 75 percent of meals, a state inspection report says. But after the resident’s weight dropped 13 percent in four months, a dietician’s recommendations to improve food intake were not promptly implemented.
Instead, the resident’s weight continued to drop—down to 77 lbs. in November—and the resident refused to eat most of the time, according to the report. On Nov. 25, the patient was taken to the hospital and treated for dehydration, sepsis, pneumonia and other ailments.
Other nursing homes cited by the state include:
• The West River Health Care Center of Milford faces a $600 fine for five instances of inadequate care, including administering the wrong medication to a resident with congestive heart failure and failing to properly care for another patient’s pressure sores.
Three of the incidents involved the late delivery of medications from the pharmacy. On another occasion, a resident suffering from congestive heart failure was mistakenly given insulin and 14 other medications that were intended for a different patient, the state report says. The nurse who administered the medications realized the error, and the resident was taken to the hospital for evaluation.
The nursing home also was cited for failing to properly care for a resident with pressure ulcers who was incontinent. Nursing staff did not check on the patient every two hours, as directed, and did not apply protective dressing to the sores, the inspection report says.
• Crestfield Rehabilitation Center in Manchester faces a $615 fine for two incidents in which residents were injured because of care lapses. One of the residents suffered a head laceration from falling against a headboard when a nurse’s aide was attempting to get him or her into bed. The resident’s care plan specified that two aides were needed to move the resident. Two months later, the resident fell again, this time cutting his or her head on a nightstand. Only one aide was assisting the resident at the time, a state report says. In a second case cited by the DPH, a resident at high risk for falling slipped off a shower chair and suffered a broken hip, after an aide had removed a seatbelt from the chair.
•The Bethel Health Care Center, of Bethel, faces a $605 fine for two incidents in which residents were injured. In one instance, a resident recovering from a hip replacement sustained a muscle tear during physical therapy, a state report says. Another resident who was supposed to be supervised because of the risk of falling and fainting slipped and fell in the bathroom while unattended and was injured, the report says.
• Apple Rehab Coccomo of Meriden faces a $580 fine from for an incident in which a nursing assistant dropped a wheelchair leg rest on a resident’s leg, causing a laceration that required 10 sutures. After the incident, the assistant was re-trained in properly attaching leg rests, a state report says.
• The Mansfield Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Storrs faces a $510 fine for an incident in which a resident was found with multiple bruises that were not promptly ddressed.
