Abuse

The other day I had completed a walk through of a facility. I came across an older woman, Zelda, slumped over in her chair. She was motioning for me to come over. Zelda asked if she could have a pillow to prop herself up. An aide came over and assisted this elderly woman. As the aide walked away, Zelda, in a low voice said "an aide slapped me". I wasn't quite sure if I had heard her correctly, "An aide slapped you?" I asked. Zelda said that a few weeks before while getting dressed, the aide was getting frustrated and slapped her on the face. Zelda had told other staff but nothing had been done.

Zelda was scared and mad. She wanted me to advocate for her. Although Zelda's body was deteriating quickly, she was not going to put up with any type of abuse.

The Administrator was notified immediately and because of the facility's no tolerance policy, the abuser was fired. Although my story appears to have a happy ending, it is not over. What happened to Zelda unfortunately, is an all too familiar story that happens to many residents in nursing homes throughout the country. Zelda lived in fear for over a month because the person she reported the abuse to, did not report it to Adult Protective Services. Instead, the aide reported it to her supervisor, and her supervisor did nothing. State law requires anyone who has reason to believe that a vulnerable adult is being abused, neglected, or exploited must immediately notify Adult Protective Services intake or the police. Many facilities have a system in place where they are required to report to their supervisor and the supervisor reports the abuse to the Administrator and then the Administrator will call Adult Protective Services. It is evident by this story that that line of communication does not always work.

Abuse in facilities on many occasions does not regularly get reported. Many times, the resident themselves will refuse to say anything in fear of retaliation. Sometimes, the staff will not report abuse because they too are afraid of retaliation or do not want the facility to look bad. It is sad but true.

If you have reason to believe a vulnerable adult is being abused, neglected, or exploited please call the police or Adult Protective Services at 1-800-371-7897.

"I Had No Idea"

A few weeks ago, a volunteer and I were walking through a nursing home. We came upon a dynamic 96 year old woman. She spoke about her life and how happy she was; she had no complaints. She enjoyed the staff, her roommate and her family would come to visit frequently.

As we visited with her, she stated, "I am not a morning person, I have such a hard time getting up so early." I asked her, "what time do you wake up?" "Oh, around six o'clock" she said. "The aide comes in, gets me dressed and takes me down for breakfast". "Well," I said, "that's a bit early. Do you like getting up at that time?" "Oh no" she said, "I would rather wake up around ten o'clock and have a piece of toast and maybe some coffee." I asked, "Were you aware that you have the right to wake up when you want to, not when the staff tells you to?" "I thought that was just the way things were done, I had no idea" she said.

Residents of long term-care do have rights and often times are not aware of what they are or do not know how to get problems resolved. As Ombudsmen, we advocate and give the residents a voice that they would not have otherwise.