What happened to Tina Glantz one Saturday night in February was either medical neglect or an effort to treat a fragile person as quickly as possible.
Staff members at the city-run West Neck Residence noticed that Glantz's stomach was distended and that she was uncomfortable. She also hadn't used the bathroom for a while. A nurse called supervisor Lora Schwarz, who thought the situation required immediate action and authorized a catheter.
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But Schwarz failed to get a doctor’s approval for the procedure, which violates state law, according to a state investigation, and two months later she lost her job.
Investigators from the state and Adult Protective Services, which looks into abuse and neglect related to incapacitated adults, cited the home for developmentally disabled adults for neglect and uncovered numerous problems, including medication errors and medical record inaccuracies.
Schwarz says the bureaucratic system is to blame.
Considered by some residents' families as a second mother to their loved ones, she is fighting to get her job back and avoid repercussions from the state Board of Nursing.
In a statement to the board, Schwarz criticized a health system that focuses on rules and regulations and not on patients' health, calling it a "hostile nursing environment. It's stressful knowing anytime you make a mistake there is a high probability of an investigation."
The 24 residents at West Neck have intellectual disabilities, physical impairments and chronic health problems. Many have limited vocabularies, require wheelchairs and have complicated medical conditions.
Full Article and Source:
Questions of Neglect, Bureaucracy Arise at Care Home![]()
Staff members at the city-run West Neck Residence noticed that Glantz's stomach was distended and that she was uncomfortable. She also hadn't used the bathroom for a while. A nurse called supervisor Lora Schwarz, who thought the situation required immediate action and authorized a catheter.
Investigators from the state and Adult Protective Services, which looks into abuse and neglect related to incapacitated adults, cited the home for developmentally disabled adults for neglect and uncovered numerous problems, including medication errors and medical record inaccuracies.
Schwarz says the bureaucratic system is to blame.
Considered by some residents' families as a second mother to their loved ones, she is fighting to get her job back and avoid repercussions from the state Board of Nursing.
In a statement to the board, Schwarz criticized a health system that focuses on rules and regulations and not on patients' health, calling it a "hostile nursing environment. It's stressful knowing anytime you make a mistake there is a high probability of an investigation."
The 24 residents at West Neck have intellectual disabilities, physical impairments and chronic health problems. Many have limited vocabularies, require wheelchairs and have complicated medical conditions.
Full Article and Source:
Questions of Neglect, Bureaucracy Arise at Care Home