The Lewis Memorial Christian Village nursing home in Springfield, Illinois has failed to meet the needs of their residents in multiple ways. The nursing home failed to properly provide care for a resident after they were incontinent. The nursing home also failed to have a resident’s prescribed medication available.
During a recent nursing home inspection by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), a CNA was witnessed using soap to clean a resident after the resident soiled his clothing. Although the staff member washed the resident with soap, there was no effort made to clean the soapy residue off of the resident’s body. When asked, the staff member said that “no rinse” soap was used, but after the inspector asked to see the soap bottle, it was found that the soap was not “no rinse.”
When soap dries on the skin, the skin can become severely irritated and itchy. For a resident who requires assistance for all activities of daily living (including toileting needs) it amounts to living a torturous existence. Over time, the soap can lead to a skin breakdown causing bed sores or pressure ulcers.
The facility also failed to consistently have prescribed medications for two of the residents living in the facility. When dispensing controlled substances, pharmacies have specific procedures that need to be followed. New prescriptions need to be faxed in advance in order for the pharmacy to be able to deliver these medications.
These procedures are well known. Pharmacies even fax reminders to nursing homes when they see that a prescription is running out. Even so, two residents repeatedly missed their prescriptions when Lewis Memorial Christian Village staff failed to renew the prescriptions before the medications ran out. These medication errors resulted in negative health consequences for the resident.
While there are large differences in both of these cases, the cause seems to be the same: failure to develop effective procedures and failure to train staff members to follow them. This is frequently the case in nursing homes with high staff turnovers and regular understaffing.
If you have a loved one who has been the victim of nursing home neglect in an Illinois nursing home, contact the Law Offices of Barry G. Doyle for a free and confidential evaluation