Donna Chapman, who was a resident at the NHC Healthcare – St. Charles nursing home facility in St. Charles, Missouri, was recently laid to rest. Sadly, Ms. Chapman died after facility employees failed to properly supervise her while she was smoking. After leaving her alone to smoke without supervision, Ms. Chapman caught on fire and suffered terrible burns over her body. She died the next day from her injuries.

It appears from reviewing her obituary (which you can read here) was quite an accomplished woman.  She held clerking jobs at several locations and became the first woman underwriter of Siebels Bruce Insurance Company in Orlando, Florida.  It is clear that she had many friends who loved her and cared for her even as she aged into her eighties.  Friends even came to decorate her room at the facility for the holidays.

Donna Chapman earned the right to be treated much better than NHC Healthcare – St. Charles treated her.  Sadly, more than likely, her death occurred because the nursing home either didn’t have enough staff members to properly supervise its residents or the employees were not properly trained.

I have handled more nursing home abuse cases than I can remember where the nursing home just did not have enough staff members to properly supervise the residents.  And, without fail, the nursing home will say that supervision is not one-on-one care.  They will say that they can’t possibly provide one-on-one care with every resident and, I suspect, that will be one of the excuses they give to this family as well.  But that argument is a red herring because no one is asking them to provide one-on-one care with every resident.  But when a resident is engaged in an activity that is inherently dangerous, the nursing home clearly has a responsibility to provide the level of supervision required to keep the resident safe.  Clearly NHC Healthcare – St. Charles failed miserably in its responsibility to keep Donna Chapman safe.

So when NHC starts giving these excuses, they should be reminded that the regulatory rules the govern nursing homes in Missouri and throughout the United States require that nursing home facilities:

• Meet the needs of every resident
• Make sure that the nursing home area is free from accident hazards and risks and provides supervision to prevent avoidable accidents
• Not abuse or neglect their residents
• Provide care and an environment that promotes quality of life
• Provide residents with dignity and respect
• Provide a safe environment for their residents
• Provide care and services for the residents’ highest well being
• Make sure that there is sufficient 24 hours nursing staff for the residents