1 Star User Review
My grandmother had a short stay at Sterling Living Center at the end of her life. She was transferred from the hospital for comfort cares, and it was understood that she would not live longer than a couple of weeks. I have worked in healthcare, including in nursing homes for 9 years and was absolutely appalled at the quality of care in this facility.
The CNAs only ever took my grandmother to the commode when I requested it, and the first day she was there I was in and out. I didn't realize until talking to the other relatives who were staying with her that the only 2 times she was taken to the bathroom that first day were the 2 times I requested it - at 9 AM and 6 PM. At the 6 PM time, it became obvious to me that she had been lying in her own waste for hours. She had also not been turned in bed at all during this time, despite standards that a bedridden patient should be turned every 2 hours. That night I was helping the nurse give her a bedbath and we discovered a bedsore (a direct result of not being taken to the bathroom and not being turned.) The nurse's response was to rub body lotion on the bedsore. She did not clean it, or dry it, or apply a barrier cream or a dressing, despite my requests for her to do so.
I could go on and on about the lack of care in this facility but it would take pages. I will summarize by saying that cares were only provided when my family and I requested them, and then had to be monitored closely. Even when we were in the room, the staff would only half complete a job such as changing her linens or her personal cares. We would have to request that they finished the job completely, and we often received attitude from them over this. I understand that they likely felt defensive over how closely we were watching, but when I saw how negligent they were even with our watchful eyes I was fearful of how cares would be performed if we were not there. My family and I spoke with the Director of Nursing about our concerns, and she was very receptive. The attitudes of the staff did change dramatically after we spoke with her, but unfortunately their incompetence did not change.
We had issues with a nurse offering morphine only 40 minutes after she had given my grandmother a dose (it was allowed every 2 hours) because she had not charted when it was last given. We literally had to write down every time a medication was given so that we could be sure she was getting them appropriately.
My grandmother's bedsore was never treated appropriately and by the end it was getting worse very quickly. The night before she died I cried with my mom as she and I looked at how much it had progressed, and we decided not to even tell the nurse on duty about it because we knew she wasn't competent to do anything helpful about it.
It was truly agonizing for me to watch my grandmother live out the last of her days in this place where no one would care for her unless specifically instructed to do so. We felt that family had to be with her 24 hours a day to ensure that she received proper care and was as comfortable as possible. I feel so badly for patients in this home who do not have family to advocate for them and must rely on the staff to be cared for.
I do not know much about the other nursing home available in Sterling, but if you are considering placing a family member here, I would recommend that you look into any other options and use Sterling Living Center only as a last resort.