ELDERLY CARE FAILING 79 PERCENT OF L.A.'S NURSING HOMES DON'T MEET FEDERAL STANDARD.Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer Most nursing homes in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. and Ventura counties are understaffed and fail to meet federal health and safety standards Safety standards are standards designed to ensure the safety of products, activities or processes, etc. They may be advisory or compulsory and are normally laid down by an advisory or regulatory body that may be either voluntary or statutory. , according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a statewide survey released Tuesday. Of 435 nursing homes in Los Angeles County, 79 percent failed to comply with minimum federal guidelines, according to the report. In Ventura County, 65 percent of 23 nursing homes were deficient. The California HealthCare Foundation-sponsored survey rated 1,212 California nursing homes to assist families and their doctors choose an appropriate residence via a consumer Web site launched Tuesday. The result: Elderly nursing-home residents across the state suffered unnecessary weight loss, time in bed, bedsores Bedsores Definition Bedsores are also called decubitus ulcers, pressure ulcers, or pressure sores. These tender or inflamed patches develop when skin covering a weight-bearing part of the body is squeezed between bone and another body part, or a bed, , physical restraints Physical restraint refers to the practice of rendering people helpless or keeping them in captivity by means such as handcuffs, shackles, straitjackets, ropes, straps, or other forms of physical restraint. , depression and pain. ``We found that most nursing homes, whether they were rated high or low, were not doing a very good job in providing assistance to residents - in not helping them eat, get out of bed, or go to the toilet,'' said Charlene Harrington, a sociologist at the School of Nursing at the University of California, San Francisco , who led the two-year survey. ``We think this is because of low staffing.'' Gov. Gray Davis responded to the Web site announcement by launching initiatives to expand consumer monitoring and protection for seniors in nursing homes and increase penalties for nursing home violations. The $2 million survey of state and federal nursing-home data from 2000 through 2001 was conducted by researchers from UC San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden , University of California, Los Angeles UCLA comprises the College of Letters and Science (the primary undergraduate college), seven professional schools, and five professional Health Science schools. Since 2001, UCLA has enrolled over 33,000 total students, and that number is steadily rising. , the Rand Corp., and the University of Wisconsin. Researchers also visited 34 of the highest- and lowest-rated homes. Among the survey's findings: --In Los Angeles County, 54 percent of nursing homes failed to meet minimum nursing staff requirements, 10 percent higher than the statewide average for staff failures. The staff failure for Ventura County homes was 33 percent. --In Los Angeles County, 79 percent of nursing homes did not comply with federal health and safety standards. The federal deficiency rate in Ventura County was 65 percent. --Across the state, 15 percent of nursing homes listed had ``very serious deficiencies'' that harmed or put patients in serious jeopardy. --Staff turnover at nursing homes remained high, reaching levels of up to 300 percent. Consumers are invited to check nursing-home ratings concerning weight loss, time in bed, staff levels, wages, hours of average one-to-one care, state and federal deficiencies and other health care criteria at www.calnhs.org. In Los Angeles County, 9 percent of nursing-home patients suffered unplanned weight loss of 5 percent or more within 30 days; in Ventura County, 12 percent of patients suffered such weight loss while the statewide average was 11 percent. ``Even in the very best homes, there is a substantial proportion of people observed eating less than 50 percent of the food on their plates, and were observed getting very little assistance during mealtimes,'' said John Scnelle, a professor at the UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX Borun Center for Gerontology gerontology: see geriatrics. Research, who participated in the survey. The federal standard, he said, is that patients eat no less than 75 percent of their meals. The study also reported that 20 percent of Los Angeles County nursing homes were below average in getting patients out of bed, and 26 percent were deficient in devices used to restrain patients. The survey follows a federal study in 1990 that found most nursing homes in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. did not meet key standards for basic patient care. Approximately 100,000 residents live at 1,406 nursing homes across the state, and the numbers are increasing. In 1990, Los Angeles County had 860,687 residents over age 65; in 2000, there were 926,673. Nursing homes and industry advocates praised the ratings but had mixed concerns about some of the survey's data. ``Very impressive,'' said Jack Christy chris·ty n. Variant of christie. , director of public policy for the California Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, which represents about 400 nonprofit nursing homes or other senior services. ``But it will never be a substitute for visiting a nursing home itself.'' Betsy Hite of the California Association of Health Facilities, which has 1,300 members, agreed. ``Accurate, with reliable information, substantive information, good information - we like that. It's good for consumers.'' But while she praised the compilation of state nursing-home data, she was critical of some of the staffing and health care assessments. Among the ``serious deficiencies'' cited by state health inspectors A health inspector, or Environmental Health Specialist is a public employee who investigates health hazards in a wide variety of locations, then will take action to mitigate or eliminate the hazards. , she said: Multivitamins without minerals; a 2-degree variation in kitchen tap water; wrong screen mesh on the front door; dented tuna cans; and a failure to serve relish with hamburgers. ``We felt we did very well,'' said Carla White, spokeswoman for the Motion Picture & Television Fund Foundation, which offers long-term nursing care to 195 retired movie-industry professionals in Woodland Hills. ``But we have a much richer program than can be reflected in the way they portion the data.'' Motion Picture Home nurses gave each patient an average of 3.3 hours of care per day - or 0.2 hours fewer than the county and state average - for an average score, and also rated average in the categories of lost weight (12 percent), time in bed (5 percent) and physical restraints (15 percent). In comparison, the Balowen Care Center in Van Nuys received less- than-average grades for nursing staff (2.8 hours per patient), change in nursing staff (223 percent), and residents placed in physical restraints (54 percent). Balowen administrators were not available for comment. Administrators for the governor promised to crack down on nursing-home violators by expanding the state Health Facility Consumer Assistance Center, which responds to consumer complaints; increase monitoring of nursing homes by expanding an ombudsman ombudsman (äm`bədzmən) [Swed.,=agent or representative], public official appointed to deal with individual complaints against government acts. program of the Department of Aging, and increase fines for nursing-home violators. ``Our goal is to improve the quality of care for California nursing homes by sending a strong message that nothing but quality care will be tolerated for our residents,'' said Grantland Johnson, secretary of the state Health and Human Services Noun 1. Health and Human Services - the United States federal department that administers all federal programs dealing with health and welfare; created in 1979 Department of Health and Human Services, HHS Agency. California HealthCare Foundation officials said the ratings offer partial protection against substandard substandard, adj below an acceptable level of performance. care. ``Until now, little or no objective information has been available to help people choose a nursing home based on quality,'' Mark Smith, president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of the foundation said in a statement. ``This is the richest source of nursing-home information ever generated for one state.'' CAPTION(S): box Box: CALIFORNIA NURSING HOME SEARCH DATA LOS ANGELES - 435 FACILITIES SOURCE: California Healthcare Foundation |
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