Robert Michael: Nursing Home Makes Improvements to Resident Care in Response to Lawsuit

As a result of a recent lawsuit brought by Inner Circle member Robert Michael, the following improvements were made by the nursing home facility:   

• All Hoyer buckets seats were replaced with new seats on the actual lifts to a different styled safer more secure seat.

In addition, the following changes were made in the facility’s staff, policies and procedures: 

• Facility wide in-services on transferring a resident with the use of the Hoyer lift were done recently.  A representative of the manufacturer for the lift device conducted a demonstration on the proper use of the Hoyer lift which was attended by nursing, maintenance and rehabilitation staff.

• All current licensed staff (Nurses, GNAs, CMAs and Rehab) will be tested for competency on the use of     the Hoyer lift.  Competencies will be repeated-twice yearly.  All   new nursing staff will be   tested on competency prior to using the lift on a resident. Policy has been revised to include   a licensed staff member (Nurse, PT or OT) to supervise when transferring a resident with a Hoyer lift in addition to two GNAs. One staff member is to have their hands on the resident at all times during the transfer.

• Maintenance personnel are now checking the Hoyer lifts on a daily basis. The facility has an agreement with an outside company to conduct preventative maintenance on the Hoyer lifts twice yearly. 

• The Director of Quality Assurance and or Assistant Director of Nursing (ADON) will randomly monitor Hoyer lift transfers to ensure they are being done properly.  A report will be presented to the QAPI committee monthly for a period of at least 12 months to ensure compliance with the new policies.