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The New York State Department of Health (DOH) cited the East Neck Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, a 300-bed facility located in West Babylon, New York, for failing to respect patients’ dignity by not providing timely and adequate incontinence care. According to a DOH report issued in April 2013, the nursing home failed to “promote care for residents in a manner and in an environment that maintains or enhances each resident’s dignity.” In one instance, a resident diagnosed with bipolar disorder repeatedly asked a certified nursing assistant (CNA) to change her incontinence brief. However, the CNA ignored the patient’s requests for care, and the patient urinated in her bed. Staff members had to change the resident’s soiled clothes and linens as a result of her lack of care.
In another case, a resident’s care plan stated that he needed assistance while using the toilet to prevent him from falling. On the night of April 8, 2013, the resident asked a CNA if she could help him to use the bathroom. The CNA stated that she would be back in a few minutes to assist him. After repeatedly asking for help for over an hour, the resident stated that the CNA told him to “just wet the bed.” The patient was incontinent in bed due to the CNA’s neglect. As a result of the incident, the resident’s linens, clothes and wound dressing covering a bedsore were soaked with urine. When staff members finally came to clean him and change his bed, they simply threw the dirty linens in the corner of his room.
During the same certification survey, the DOH also cited the Long Island nursing home for not preventing “the development and transmission of disease and infection.” On April 12, 2013, a DOH inspector observed a licensed practical nurse (LPN) administer a blood glucose test to a diabetic patient. The patient had recently been diagnosed with a contagious infection, and a physician ordered that staff members follow certain contact precautions when entering the patient’s room. However, after administer the glucose test, the LPN failed to change her gloves or wash her hands and began touching items on the medication cart. The same LPN also failed to sterilize the top of a vial with an alcohol wipe before she inserted a syringe into it. When questioned about these two incidents, the LPN told a DOH inspector that she “forgot” to follow infection precautions because she was “nervous” about being observed.
According to the “Nursing Home Compare” website, the nursing home received an overall rating that was much below average. The facility’s health inspection record and staffing levels were also rated much below average.
