The top four administrators of the state-run Minneapolis Veterans Home resigned this week after a recent state Health Department inspection found numerous care problems there, officials said Wednesday.
The 418 nursing home residents "are not in immediate jeopardy, but we have concerns about some of the care issues there," said Mike Tripple, who heads inspections for the Health Department... ...Problems included such basic care issues as bed sores and cleanliness of incontinent residents... [There were inspections by the Department of Health Facility Complaints in June and July] ...Soon after the July inspection, the home's administrators added a fifth nursing aide to both the morning and afternoon shifts, said Mattox. She said the addition has improved care. Full text at http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/5590147.html [Doug Mann] The staff to resident ratio was 1 to 104, then 1 to 84. Even with 5 nursing aids on every shift, each resident would get an average of less than 18 minutes of nursing care per 24 hours. Nurses (RNs and LPNs) in long term care settings usually don't provide direct nursing care, but instead push pills and pencils. Under Rule 49 (nursing home regulations repealed by the MN legislature in 1985), the required minimum hours of productive nursing care per resident per 24 hours was 1.0 hour for residents classified as "intermediate care" ("board and care," substancially independent in basic activities of daily living, e.g., continent of bowel and bladder), 2.5 hours for Skilled 1, and 3.2 hours for Skilled 2. Assuming that Nurse Aids do most or all of the direct nursing care, current staffing levels at the Vets Home are grossly inadequate, and the residents are in jeopardy. Serious neglect, as evidenced by pressure sores, is unavoidable with so few caregivers. I have about 10 years experience as a charge nurse, and prior to that worked about 7 years in hospitals and nursing homes in the Twin Cities and Atlanta, Georgia. >From 1975 to 1978 I was the chair of a workers council that enforced minimum staffing requirements under Rule 49 at a nursing home in St. Paul, MN. The unionized employees threatened to conduct an "illegal" strike, if necessary to enforce the law in November 1975 and thereafter. - See "The Diary of a Nursing Home Agitator" http://educationright.tripod.com/id268.htm -Doug Mann, King Field, 8th ward Candidate for Minneapolis City Council http://educationright.com/blog REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@mnforum.org Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
