Accidents can happen, even when all precautions are taken. When an accident occurs in a nursing home, there is almost always an investigation. For a Winona, Minnesota nursing him, an accident investigated concluded with the nursing home being cited for the woman’s death, according to a report from the Austin Daily Herald.
The accident, which occurred on December 29, 2016, has been under investigation since the death of a nursing home resident a few days following the reported incident.
Two staff members moved the resident, who required a mechanical lift, onto a portable toilet. They then vacated the room to give the resident privacy. A few moments later, the *resident was heard screaming in pain and found with “her buttocks touching the floor.”
Staff members had failed to lock the wheels of the portable toilet, which had rolled away from the resident, causing the accident.
After the investigation, the findings were released on Tuesday, May 16. The Minnesota Department of Health determined that Lake Winona Manor did not provide adequate training for supervision residents who were utilizing a mechanical lift. The staff members were also found to have disregarded manufacturer’s guidelines by leaving a patient unsupervised in the lift.
After the accident, the resident was taken to a hospital emergency room. She was returned to the nursing home where she died several days later.
The death certificate listed a stroke as the official cause of death but noted that the woman’s injuries contributed significantly to her death.
It is the practice of the Health Department to not release the name of the resident.
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