Addressing Concerns About Retaliation

Retaliation, and the fear of retaliation, can prevent residents and family members from raising their concerns about care and safety. It also has a chilling effect on the reporting of abuse or neglect in long-term care facilities, leaving many living in fear and without relief from harm. Retaliation can range from very subtle to obvious actions and it may be difficult to determine whether staff are retaliating or if a resident’s needs are not being met for another reason, such as understaffing. Retaliation is never acceptable; it is a violation of the resident's rights. In this episode, join us for a conversation with an Ombudsman, a long-term care resident, and a gerontologist as we discuss how to identify retaliation, action steps to take when it does occur, and how to advocate to prevent retaliation from happening in the future.
Guests: Tasha Erskine-Jackson, Regional Ombudsman, Connecticut Aging and Disability Services; Jeanette Martinez, Connecticut Long-Term Care Resident; and Eilon Caspi, Gerontologist and Dementia Behavior Specialist

[@michellecd4722]

Hospitals retaliate as well. I filed a Keepro reconsideration on an appeal for Medicare for my Dad and the administration went ballistic! The docs didn't do anything for my Dad after, unhooked everything, he had no sheets, no socks, didn't feed him. UNREAL!
Then he went into a skilled nursing facility for physical therapy, and occupational therapy rehabilitation and got TWO bedsores on his feet. My Dad an 81-year-old diabetic who got his first pressure wound sores in rehab! My Dad and Mom have been through hell in this disgusting system. I could write a book on all the injuries and neglect going on just for my parents never mind all the lack of infection control. My Dad just got 2 UTIs and C-diff as well and there they are leaving his urine-filled plastic urinal next to his food and ginger ale on the table. And my Dad didn't do that himself, they aren't even emptying it, and then when they do they don't wash it out, just a fast rinse, and the urine is still at the bottom. And this leaving the infected urine hanging around is a PATTERN at 4 skilled facilities and TWO hospitals. Totally unacceptable. I of course complained but they didn't listen.
I also had a nurse say my dad needs to "learn how to hold his urine". My Dad had sepsis from a bladder infection that was creating gas bubbles in the bladder! He was retaining urine in his bladder automatically, that LAST thing my Dad needs to do is "hold his urine" OMG! And then the family who complains about these unacceptable things becomes the bad guy. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. My Mom has had head injuries and falls and had not been taken to the ER to be evaluated until I went in and saw the wounds that they did NOT document & requested she be sent out. My uncle had flies on his legs at the nursing home. Again, I could write a book!