Two residents at the Turner Manor nursing home in Harrisburg, Illinois were diagnosed with potentially fatal bowel obstructions earlier this year. One resident required surgical intervention to treat the obstruction. The other resident required manual removal of the blockage.
Nursing homes are required to provide proper monitoring of bowel movements. Fecal impaction is a potentially fatal and always extremely painful condition that occurs when fecal matter is unable to pass through the large intestine. This is a problem that can usually be treated through the deployment of laxatives, but only if the condition is caught early.
If the problem is ignored, the fecal matter can solidify in a way that can even tear through the intestines. This condition can easily become fatal. The staff at Turner Manor failed to identify or treat the conditions with laxatives even though one of the residents lost 11 pounds in a single week.
After the residents returned to Turner Manor from the hospital, the nursing home continued its failure to properly care for their conditions. They failed to provide a nutritional supplement with every meal, and they also failed to monitor and administer laxatives to the two residents.
When asked why the nutritional supplement was not being included with the residents’ meals, the Turner Manor dietary assistant supervisor said that she didn’t have any of the supplement, and that she also didn’t know when, or if, it would be ordered.
Dehydration and malnutrition are serious symptoms of nursing home neglect. In many cases, these issues can prove extremely harmful or fatal because of consequences caused by the symptoms. Sadly, many cases of dehydration and malnutrition in nursing homes become wrongful death lawsuits because the fatal incident is a direct result of a failure to provide the proper levels of food and water.
If you have a loved one who has lost significant weight, or has required an emergency procedure, and you feel that nursing home neglect has played a role in that injury, contact our Illinois nursing home lawyers for a free and confidential evaluation of your case or file an Illinois nursing home complaint with the Illinois department of public health now.