US Government Rates Lincoln County Nursing & Rehab As “Below Average”
Lincoln County Nursing & Rehab is one of two nursing homes in Troy, Missouri. Sadly this “below average” (according to Medicare) facility is the best nursing home in town. Certainly the elderly people of Troy, Missouri deserve better than two facilities (this one and Troy Manor) both of which have substandard government ratings.
Much Below Average Staffing Levels
While Lincoln County Nursing & Rehab has an overall two star rating (below average), the staffing levels are deemed to be “much below average”, according to the Nursing Home Compare section of Medicare.gov. When one lookBed-Sores-and-Mores at the numbers, it is not hard to see why Medicare rates this facility so poorly. Lincoln County Nursing & Rehab lags behind in staffing when compared to the state and national averages. For example, each resident at this facility receive on average 26 minutes of care from a Registered Nurse on a daily basis while the state average is 37 minutes and the national average is 50 minutes. If you have a family member who requires care from an RN, your loved one will receive roughly half the RN care as the national average. That is not good news for the residents at this nursing home.
Sadly, the news gets worse when one looks at the care provided by Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA). While there is no hard data on the exact percentage of total care provided in nursing homes is performed by CNA’s, it is probably in the area of 90% or more. Some may quibble over exact numbers but no one will argue that the vast majority of the care given to nursing home residents, both nationally and in Missouri, is performed by Certified Nursing Assistants, who have received the least amount of training and education.
The national average for care provided to nursing home residents by Certified Nursing Assistants is 2 hours and 27 minutes per resident per day. In Missouri residents receive, on average, 2 hours and 29 minutes per day of CNA care. Lincoln County Nursing & Rehab falls way below both the state and national averages with its residents receiving only 1 hour and 46 minutes of CNA care per resident per day. Think about that. Look at just some of what Certified Nursing Assistants generally help residents do:
- bathe
- brush teeth
- brush hair
- transfer from bed to wheelchair
- walk
- use the restroom (8-12 times per day)
- get cleaned up after an incontinent event
- get ready for bed and a host of other things
- reposition residents who are unable to reposition themselves
- provide water and food
What Happens If A Nursing Home Is Not Staffed Sufficiently?
If there are not enough staff members to supervise residents who are high fall risks, what will happen? Falls. Falls can result in serious injuries. Falls can result in subdural hematomas that result in death.
If there are not enough staff members to reposition residents who are unable to reposition themselves, what will happen? The lack of repositioning of residents can lead to the development of bed sores and can cause existing bed sores to worsen. Bed sores can become infected and cause terrible pain and even death.
I have handled cases where residents have become severely malnourished, dehydrated, developed bed sores, wandered from the facility and suffered injuries, fallen and died, had breathing tubes clogged to the point where they couldn’t breath and a host of other horrible things. In virtually every single case, the injury could be traced back to, in part, insufficient staffing levels and poor training of staff members. The cause and effect of insufficient staffing is obvious, yet many nursing homes just continue to provide insufficient staffing for the residents.
The Bottom Line
Before placing a loved one in a Troy, Missouri nursing home do your homework. Go visit the facility, check online reviews, talk with friends and neighbors who have had family members there and, most of all, keep a close eye on them. Also, when it comes time to complain, do it correctly.
Attorney David Terry prepared a report entitled The Art of the Complaint that you can download for free right here. This free report will help you know how to make an effective complaint and how to prove that you have made complaints. Helpful hint: Unless you write the complaint down and make sure you can prove that you gave it to the nursing home, chances are the nursing home will deny that you ever complained.
Remember, no one will love your family member as much as you and despite what any nursing home tells you about how they will treat your loved one like their own family, they don’t mean it and they don’t do it. So, you have to be vigilant to make sure they get the care they are supposed to get to meet their needs.
If you have any concerns about the care your loved one is receiving at a St. Louis nursing home or any nursing home across Missouri, call the Terry Law Firm at (314) 878-9797 and we will be happy to talk with you.