Nursing Homes Are Chronically Understaffed leading to the Falsifying of Medical Records

Written by Adam Peck Category: Nursing Homes January 23rd, 2013 2 min read

This is the story of a ninety-two-year old man who went to a skilled nursing facility after a hospital stay for shortness of breath. He died several days later from pressure ulcers on his heels that led to leg amputations and a raging bone infection.

Apparently nursing home staff had not repositioned him often enough. Court depositions showed that the nursing home administrator and a representative of the facility’s corporate offices had ordered a nurse to alter the medical records to show that the resident had arrived at the facility with “softened heels.” But the nurse admitted she had not seen the patient when he was admitted and had “no memory of him ever having softened heels.” The nurse said a corporate representative had told her “to falsify the medical records because the current records did not ‘look good’ and he was worried about a lawsuit.” says Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Lawyer Steven Peck.

Fraudulent charting is often the result of understaffing: “public documents reveal tales of chaotic shifts on which certified nurse assistants are scrambling to provide care.” Since nursing staff is a facility’s biggest cost, it’s easy to see how fewer nurses makes good business sense, especially when doctoring the records appears so easy.

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Written by Adam Peck

Expertise: Personal Injury

Adam J. Peck, ESQ is a principal with Peck Law Group, APC. In 2008, Mr. Adam Peck received his Juris Doctorate from Whittier Law School where he graduated Cum Laude. His practice is primarily dedicated to representing Elders, Dependent Adults, along with their loved ones and family members, who have suffered horrific personal injuries.