What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
Neglect—the failure by those responsible to provide food, shelter, health care, or protection for a vulnerable elder.
Abuse—inflicting mental pain, anguish, or distress on an elder person through verbal or nonverbal acts, e.g. humiliating, intimidating, or threatening.
This is a log of the events that took place while hospital caused elder abuse on my mom while in the ICU unit. I have all paperwork and audio recordings of the meetings. My mom was in the hospital ICU for 71 days before the staff said they had a problem with me. I never had a problem with the staff until I found them doing their job wrong. They did everything they could to CYA and make it my fault. My mom was in the ICU 91 days total before passing.
My mom was taken to the hospital on Feb 17, 2014. She was then transferred to another hospital. The doctor that was the primary was less than helpful. He basically said that she would die so there was no point in trying to self her. I would not allow that and the doctor and I would constantly not be getting along. I called the insurance company and asked that the doctor be taken off my mom’s case. At this point my mom had been in ICU for around 60 days. The doctor called me back and explained that “my mom has surprised the hell out of him.” We talked and he said that he would do a better job of commutating with me and be open to my listen to me. My mom would have her up and downs.
May 6, 2014 while my mom was having dialysis. The dialysis nurse was changing the wound bandage dated 4/30 and as she removed it the dressing was green and smelt really bad. Even the dialysis nurse commented “that is not good, that is why she has a bad infection.” I advised the nurse that was in charge of my mom’s overall care about the dressing and basically did not care. She was rude to me and I asked for the charge nurse. I explained what had happened to the charge nurse and asked that she take pictures of the dressing and to have another nurse take over my mom’s care. She left to find a camera and the nurse that was going to be replaced came into my mom’s room and told me that she needed to do some procedures and that I would have to leave the room. I exited the room and the nurse closed the curtain. I was not about to see what she was doing. While she was in there the charge nurse and house supervisor came into the ICU. I was pleading with them to get me another nurse and to have her get out of my mom’s room. When the nurse came back out of the room. The house supervisor was asking me to go out of the ICU and talk with her. I explained I would do that after they took pictures of the dressing. As we went in the room to find the dressing that I had wrapped in a glove. It was now missing. I was asked why I had not just taken it out of the room with me I explained that I did not want to spread it around the ICU. I really just wanted it documented. The house supervisor said that she would write an incident report about all of this. I walked back into my mom’s room and the ventilator hose that was connected to her throat was just laying off to the side. I looked up at her monitor and her heard rate was out of control. I then called for help and no nurses came to assist me. I hooked up my mom’s hose back up to her throat and her heart rate returned to a normal state. I called in the charge nurse and explained what had just happened and that I was very upset about it. I asked if she could get her some liquid aspirin for and she did. At this point the house supervisor had returned. I was explaining to her outside of the room what had happened after she left. The house supervisor said that she would also add that to the report. I walked back in the room to check on my mom and there was liquid aspirin spilled all over my face, arm and bed. I called back in the charge nurse and told this not the care that I explained that I was not happy the care that my mom was receiving. She told me that she was trying to take care of my mom. She left. The new nurse came and we talked about the cell phone usage. I told him I would not use it again and that I was not aware. After 30 minutes of me being in the room (I was in there alone) security showed up and told me I had to leave. I asked why? I was told I was being rude. I was being told that I have go no matter what. I asked to speak with the house supervisor and they told me “no.” I was told that if I did not leave that they would call the police. I started walking out with security and walked out the parking lot. The police showed up while I was looking for my car and I spoke with them. They advised me to just leave and call to supervisor. (Which is what I was doing). I call house supervisor and was told come back. When I got there. Security was at the door and told me I could not come back in.
On May 7, 2014 I called the manager of the ICU. We talked for about an hour, he told me to come in. I arrived at the hospital and headed up to the room I as met by the ICU manager, risk management, and head of security. We had about a 30 second conversation. I explained that my lawyer had expressed he need to discuss what happened with them. The head of security then told me that I would be “trespassed from the property and would be arrested if I came back on the property.” I then walk out and left the property. I called the public health office and reported what had happened. I then called the Vice President of Patient Care Service and left a message. She called me back and stated that I could have a meeting with security, risk management and ICU manager. We had the meeting which did not accomplish much of anything. They allowed me go back up to the room with security. Everything was going well and then night shift come on and it was the same nurses that I have the problems with. Security was there as the nurse was rude and aggressive with me. Security and I then left the ICU to go speak with the house supervisor. I spent a good 45 minutes talking to her explaining that I did not want the same nurses that were very rude to me caring over my mom. She called the called the manager of the ICU to try and find a resolution to the problem. She explained that the ICU manager was not going to do anything about it. I then left the hospital. On May 8, 2014 at about 6:50 am I received a call that my mom had flat lined and that they had shocked her to start her heart again. I quickly arrived at the hospital. I was in the room for about 15 minutes and I was told that I have to leave. Security was there with me again. I was taken down to the main lobby of the hospital. I set there for about 2 hours waiting for them to tell me something. They came and told me that they would be having a meeting with me. I called my family to come support me during the meeting. The meeting was about the rules that I would have to abide by to be able to see my mom. They discussed that I was to see my mom for 15 min every hour from 8-5. Myself and my family voiced our health concerns during the meeting and they told us that meeting was about my behavior. I had to be followed by security while I was in the cafeteria and other areas of the hospital.
On May 10, 2014 Mother’s Day 2014 they made no attempt to allow me to see my mom for what could be her last mother’s day.
On May 11, 2014 I spoke with the Doctor in charge of my mom’s care and explained to him that I felt that she needed better care and that I would like her transferred to another when the staff would be able to commutate with me. The doctor agreed and wrote the order to have my mom transferred to a higher level of care. I spoke with the case manager about this and she stated that they were waiting to find out where my mom was going to be moved.
On May 12, 2014 I called to check on my mom and they told me that she was getting ready to have a procedure I explained that I had not be advised about this nor had I consented to this and asked to speak with the doctor. The doctor called me back and explained the procedure to me I let him know that I was ok with that and consented to do the procedure. When I arrived at that I asked to speak with the charge nurse to discuss the issue of me not being informed about the procedure. The charge nurse told me that “this what we call a near miss and it would have be caught.” I told her I was not comfortable with that and she seems to get very upset with me. We all went in an office inside the ICU. I explained that my mom’s safety was compromised and told me that I was not follow the rules that they had set for me. I explained to them that I have nor copy of the rules to follow. During the meeting the head of risk management burst into the office stating “it is very loud in here. We have to be quiet for the patients.” During that time the manager of the ICU had been speaking. The meeting ended and I went see my mom.
Neglect—the failure by those responsible to provide food, shelter, health care, or protection for a vulnerable elder.
Abuse—inflicting mental pain, anguish, or distress on an elder person through verbal or nonverbal acts, e.g. humiliating, intimidating, or threatening.
This is a log of the events that took place while hospital caused elder abuse on my mom while in the ICU unit. I have all paperwork and audio recordings of the meetings. My mom was in the hospital ICU for 71 days before the staff said they had a problem with me. I never had a problem with the staff until I found them doing their job wrong. They did everything they could to CYA and make it my fault. My mom was in the ICU 91 days total before passing.
My mom was taken to the hospital on Feb 17, 2014. She was then transferred to another hospital. The doctor that was the primary was less than helpful. He basically said that she would die so there was no point in trying to self her. I would not allow that and the doctor and I would constantly not be getting along. I called the insurance company and asked that the doctor be taken off my mom’s case. At this point my mom had been in ICU for around 60 days. The doctor called me back and explained that “my mom has surprised the hell out of him.” We talked and he said that he would do a better job of commutating with me and be open to my listen to me. My mom would have her up and downs.
May 6, 2014 while my mom was having dialysis. The dialysis nurse was changing the wound bandage dated 4/30 and as she removed it the dressing was green and smelt really bad. Even the dialysis nurse commented “that is not good, that is why she has a bad infection.” I advised the nurse that was in charge of my mom’s overall care about the dressing and basically did not care. She was rude to me and I asked for the charge nurse. I explained what had happened to the charge nurse and asked that she take pictures of the dressing and to have another nurse take over my mom’s care. She left to find a camera and the nurse that was going to be replaced came into my mom’s room and told me that she needed to do some procedures and that I would have to leave the room. I exited the room and the nurse closed the curtain. I was not about to see what she was doing. While she was in there the charge nurse and house supervisor came into the ICU. I was pleading with them to get me another nurse and to have her get out of my mom’s room. When the nurse came back out of the room. The house supervisor was asking me to go out of the ICU and talk with her. I explained I would do that after they took pictures of the dressing. As we went in the room to find the dressing that I had wrapped in a glove. It was now missing. I was asked why I had not just taken it out of the room with me I explained that I did not want to spread it around the ICU. I really just wanted it documented. The house supervisor said that she would write an incident report about all of this. I walked back into my mom’s room and the ventilator hose that was connected to her throat was just laying off to the side. I looked up at her monitor and her heard rate was out of control. I then called for help and no nurses came to assist me. I hooked up my mom’s hose back up to her throat and her heart rate returned to a normal state. I called in the charge nurse and explained what had just happened and that I was very upset about it. I asked if she could get her some liquid aspirin for and she did. At this point the house supervisor had returned. I was explaining to her outside of the room what had happened after she left. The house supervisor said that she would also add that to the report. I walked back in the room to check on my mom and there was liquid aspirin spilled all over my face, arm and bed. I called back in the charge nurse and told this not the care that I explained that I was not happy the care that my mom was receiving. She told me that she was trying to take care of my mom. She left. The new nurse came and we talked about the cell phone usage. I told him I would not use it again and that I was not aware. After 30 minutes of me being in the room (I was in there alone) security showed up and told me I had to leave. I asked why? I was told I was being rude. I was being told that I have go no matter what. I asked to speak with the house supervisor and they told me “no.” I was told that if I did not leave that they would call the police. I started walking out with security and walked out the parking lot. The police showed up while I was looking for my car and I spoke with them. They advised me to just leave and call to supervisor. (Which is what I was doing). I call house supervisor and was told come back. When I got there. Security was at the door and told me I could not come back in.
On May 7, 2014 I called the manager of the ICU. We talked for about an hour, he told me to come in. I arrived at the hospital and headed up to the room I as met by the ICU manager, risk management, and head of security. We had about a 30 second conversation. I explained that my lawyer had expressed he need to discuss what happened with them. The head of security then told me that I would be “trespassed from the property and would be arrested if I came back on the property.” I then walk out and left the property. I called the public health office and reported what had happened. I then called the Vice President of Patient Care Service and left a message. She called me back and stated that I could have a meeting with security, risk management and ICU manager. We had the meeting which did not accomplish much of anything. They allowed me go back up to the room with security. Everything was going well and then night shift come on and it was the same nurses that I have the problems with. Security was there as the nurse was rude and aggressive with me. Security and I then left the ICU to go speak with the house supervisor. I spent a good 45 minutes talking to her explaining that I did not want the same nurses that were very rude to me caring over my mom. She called the called the manager of the ICU to try and find a resolution to the problem. She explained that the ICU manager was not going to do anything about it. I then left the hospital. On May 8, 2014 at about 6:50 am I received a call that my mom had flat lined and that they had shocked her to start her heart again. I quickly arrived at the hospital. I was in the room for about 15 minutes and I was told that I have to leave. Security was there with me again. I was taken down to the main lobby of the hospital. I set there for about 2 hours waiting for them to tell me something. They came and told me that they would be having a meeting with me. I called my family to come support me during the meeting. The meeting was about the rules that I would have to abide by to be able to see my mom. They discussed that I was to see my mom for 15 min every hour from 8-5. Myself and my family voiced our health concerns during the meeting and they told us that meeting was about my behavior. I had to be followed by security while I was in the cafeteria and other areas of the hospital.
On May 10, 2014 Mother’s Day 2014 they made no attempt to allow me to see my mom for what could be her last mother’s day.
On May 11, 2014 I spoke with the Doctor in charge of my mom’s care and explained to him that I felt that she needed better care and that I would like her transferred to another when the staff would be able to commutate with me. The doctor agreed and wrote the order to have my mom transferred to a higher level of care. I spoke with the case manager about this and she stated that they were waiting to find out where my mom was going to be moved.
On May 12, 2014 I called to check on my mom and they told me that she was getting ready to have a procedure I explained that I had not be advised about this nor had I consented to this and asked to speak with the doctor. The doctor called me back and explained the procedure to me I let him know that I was ok with that and consented to do the procedure. When I arrived at that I asked to speak with the charge nurse to discuss the issue of me not being informed about the procedure. The charge nurse told me that “this what we call a near miss and it would have be caught.” I told her I was not comfortable with that and she seems to get very upset with me. We all went in an office inside the ICU. I explained that my mom’s safety was compromised and told me that I was not follow the rules that they had set for me. I explained to them that I have nor copy of the rules to follow. During the meeting the head of risk management burst into the office stating “it is very loud in here. We have to be quiet for the patients.” During that time the manager of the ICU had been speaking. The meeting ended and I went see my mom.