1 Star User Review
My mother died 7 years ago. She was a patient for two years. Hopefully, things have improved at Rockville. Things frequently happened that we were not told about . I wonder how much was reported to the state by the nursing home. Why would they report on their own shortcomings? We came one day to see all of the patients sitting outside of their rooms with name stickers. We heard from one of the staffers that the medications got mixed up and were given to the wrong patients. When we asked, everyone clammed up. We were there everyday to make sure my mother got appropriate care because she was a Parksinson's patient in a very difficult contorted and frozen position. You would never see any of the administrators unless the state was there for their inspection or the families were coming for a holiday. Then the administrators would all come out of their offices, pretending to care about the patients, offering them water, showing false concern. It was amazing how much better the food was on those days as well./
Patients would cry to go to the bathroom as they sat in the halls in their wheelchairs which was the extent of the recreation and socialization for many of the people. I would tell the aids and they would help the patient once or twice, but when they realized I was going to point this out to them each time someone asked me for help, they started to ignore me. I discovered that this was because they took all the patients to the bathroom at the same time regardless of when they really needed to go. I guess the aides felt this was a timesaver for them and it seemed ok with the administrators that this was how things are handled.
One night my mother wound up with her leg stuck under the bed, her toenail pushing against the underside of the metal supports for the mattress. Her toenail got ripped off. I can't imagine the extreme agony my mother must have been in while this was happening. She tried calling out but no one would listen to her. Someone did come into the room at one point and didn't see that her leg was curled underneath and she told my mother to go back to sleep. I think of this constantly to this day and how abandoned my mother must have felt. My mother finally got the special curved mattress that she needed to prevent her strange movements from getting her into physical trouble.
My mother was very contorted and needed a special wheelchair that would accommodate her very twisted shape. We were told by Rockville, that what we were given was appropriate and that we weren't even allowed to purchase one for her use in the nursing home with our own money. It was only a few weeks before my mother was hospitalized for the last time that I went to a lawyer in New York who specializes laws governing nursing homes, and after looking at a picture of my mother, she told me that my mother was absolutely entitled to a special chair. By the time my mother died, we had only just started on the legal process that would have allowed her to have the chair that she was entitled to all along. All the chairs in the home were old and pieced together at that time. I hope the home has been forced to purchase new ones by now.
I witnessed one man who was way too big for his wheelchair slump forward numerous times. Once he fell out and hit his head. I heard he was in the hospital and died not long after that.
To have to call in the lawyers, or wait for an injury, for a need so obvious, was very frustrating. I can't imagine how awful it must be, for the lonely patient who has no one to advocate for him/her. That patient doesn't have a chance of receiving what she is entitled to.
The ombudsman who was posted on the board as someone you could call to register complaints was an elderly lady. When you tried to talk to her about what your problems were, she would say "Oh, that nice Mr. Lohne is such a dear. I can't believe you are having trouble." As an ombudsman, this woman was totally useless.She didn't offer any solutions or help. I wonder how she got this job in the first place and who would have chosen her?
This nursing home took the patients outside a total of 2 or 3 times in the two years that we were there. These patients got absolutely no fresh air. It was a disgrace. I can't imagine anything more depressing. Several of the old ladies would beg me to take them outside. Occasionally I would, but I was so consumed with my mother that I couldn't spend too much time tending to their needs. The layout of the home is no excuse for why these people weren't allowed to go outside. . Build a new nursing home and let people who really care take on this job.We had no good alternatives location wise, so we were forced to stay with this place. There is a great need for more good choices out there!!!!! Let there be competition for these patients. Then you might see improvement in the quality of care. Our experience here was beyond frustrating.