Morrison nursing home contesting $25,000 fine

MORRISON ? A Morrison nursing home is contesting a $25,000 fine levied after the state found it had failed to keep a resident from falling from a shower chair and suffering two leg fractures that required surgery to repair.

Pleasant View Rehabilitation and Health Care Center, a 74-bed skilled care facility at 500 N. Jackson St. owned by Peterson Health Care, has asked for a hearing on the matter. A conference call on the status of the case is scheduled for Aug. 15; a hearing date has not been set, Illinois Department of Public Health spokeswoman Melaney Arnold said Tuesday.

Douglas Harridge, Pleasant View's administrator, referred requests for comment to Peterson's corporate headquarters in Peoria; a request for comment made late Tuesday afternoon was not immediately returned.

The IDPH is responsible for investigating potential nursing home violations. According to its report:

At around 4:45 a.m. on Feb. 16, a certified nursing assistant was giving the resident, who has Alzheimer's, osteoporosis and is unable to walk, a shower, and was standing in front of her, trying to button her shirt in the back when the woman slid out of the shower chair.

The CNA said she couldn't put her back in the chair and had to lower her to the ground, where she was sitting upright, her legs to the side. She laid the woman her on her left side, and another CNA came to help her get her in a geriatric chair.

Later that day, the resident's leg was swollen and she complained of pain, and at 8 that night, about 15 hours after the fall, she was given a dose of pain medication.

About an hour later, staff noticed something moving in the resident's leg when they rolled her over, and she was taken to the Morrison Community Hospital emergency department around 9 the next morning. She wasn't given any other pain medication before being taken to the hospital.

She arrived yelling "I'm in pain," unable to move her legs, and X-rays revealed two left femur fractures, which would have been very painful, the emergency room doctor said. She also had a urinary tract infection, and elevated potassium levels.

A week later, on Feb. 23, staff noticed bruises on her left hand and forearm, and she complained of pain when being moved from a chair to her bed via a mechanical sling.

On Feb. 24, she was again taken to the emergency department, where X-rays showed bone fragments in one of the fractures. She was sent to another hospital for surgery.

During the investigation, it was noted that the woman's daily care plan, which helps staff determine a resident's personal care and nursing needs, was not filled out, and another record failed to indicate that, because of her high risk of falling, two staff members are required to supervise her in the shower.

In addition to the fine, the IDPH is requiring Pleasant View to provide immediate treatment in the event of an accident or injury; develop and keep up to date in writing the resident's care plan, and review it at least every 3 months; observe and record changes in her physical and emotional well-being, so that her abilities to do the things she can do for herself do not diminish; make sure her environment remains free of accident hazards, and make sure she is adequately supervised.

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REPORTS ONLINE

Go to shawurl.com/348j to read the report on Pleasant View Rehabilitation and Health Care Center.

Go to dph.illinois.gov and search for "nursing home violators" to read Illinois Department of Public Health quarterly reports on nursing home violations.