"The Rest of the Story"

One of my all-time favorite news reporters is Paul Harvey. I loved to listen to him as he slowly built his stories from the ground up until he revealed his surprise ending with his patented closing statement, "and now you know, the rest of the story". His stories told the side of the news that the other's did not.

I was reminded of Paul Harvey this past week, when on Friday morning (January 30) the local Rochester newspaper and TV news stations ran a headline story on "2 nursing home aides charged with resident abuse"

The news story would lead you to believe that the State Attorney Generals Office, “in a series of investigation in home health care fraud and mistreatment at nursing homes”, saved the day by swooping in and arresting yet another criminal health care worker in the nick of time and thus protecting thousands of our elderly.

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the fact that the State Attorney General’s Office is willing to investigate and prosecute resident abuse and fraud to the fullest. Nursing homes don’t want these people working in their facilities either and always cooperate fully with the reporting and investigations of any issue they become aware of.

In the most recent case cited in this article, one of the charged nursing assistants was a result of an incident that occurred at Kirkhaven on May 5, 2007 (more than 1 ½ years ago).

Monique Jones applied for a Certified Nursing Assistant position at Kirkhaven on November 8, 2006. Kirkhaven adheres to a standard pre-employment procedure that includes: an applicant interview, work and personal reference checks, county and state criminal background checks, drug testing and status verification on the New York State Nurse Aide Registry.

She was hired on November 27, 2006 and worked as a per-diem nursing assistant. Consistent with all new hires, she attended the standard 2-day Kirkhaven orientation and a 2-week department training, which begins a 3-month “trial period”. Over the next four months, Monique received numerous in-service training offered to all staff, including “Managing Health Care Stress” and “Resident Altercation Policy & Procedures”. The latter course includes Kirkhaven’s zero-tolerance resident abuse policy.

On May 2, 2007, Monique and another nursing assistant were helping a male resident transfer from his wheelchair to his bed at 2 p.m. The file statement from the other nursing assistant reads, “the resident started kicking as we moved him into his bed and Monique said don’t you kick me and she kicked him in the left side”. This was reported to nursing administration immediately. After interviewing the individuals involved and conducting an internal investigation, Monique’s employment was terminated that day and the incident was reported to the NYS Health Department.

In short, it appears that Kirkhaven followed its standard and prudent policies and procedures designed to minimize the potential for this type of incident and to help ensure the safety and care of our residents. We take these matters very seriously and while we can never guarantee that an incident won’t happen, we do take every possible step to avoid them.

I find it frustrating that it took the Attorney General’s Office over 1½ years to make an arrest of this individual after Kirkhaven took immediate action. We did a NYS Nurse Aide Registry check on Monique today and noted that the State has her listed as “certified” and “active”. The Registry also shows that she was employed by another area nursing home just 5 weeks after her termination at Kirkhaven. The State’s system is failing!

So please excuse my frustration as I read the Democrat and Chronicle article:

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200901300300/NEWS01/90129026.

I don’t see the State’s system working as well as they would like you to believe. I don’t see this solely as a nursing home problem. We will continue to follow our procedures and take immediate action to protect our residents and provide quality care. But all our efforts won’t eliminate the risk that bad people do exist and unethical behavior will still occur in our political system, the business world and even in mission-based care facilities for the elderly.

All I ask is that we don’t let the actions of a few speak for the majority. I witness every day the dedication and love that goes into caring for our residents by the many hard working caregivers. The many wonderful stories and words of thanks from residents and family is the real news of the day. I invite anyone to come visit us at Kirkhaven (or any nursing home) and see for yourself the wonderful care and relationships that exist.

………….And now you know, the rest of the story!