Brinton Woods

BW is the laziest and most depressing place. Joe was never turned/​shifted for bed sore/​blood clot prevention. When we arrived each day, he was in the same position as when we left him. We requested his legs be kept elevated because of severe swelling. After over a week, a visitor noticed Joe’s legs and pointed out that Joe’s «At risk of falling» band around his ankle was too tight – it needed to be cut off right away. I asked the charge nurse if this could be cut, she said «Sure.» So I took a pair of scissors and cut off the band that was cutting off Joe’s circulation. I told the nurse attending to Joe that I had to cut the band because I was worried about blood clots. I wonder why she or any other staff that supposedly check on Joe regularly didn’t look at his swollen legs and take a moment to get a pair of scissors to cut the band themselves. It has been confirmed that Joe had blood clots in his legs. Joe sat in a wheelchair in the «social room» for more than 12 hours a day. I saw a TV on and a nurse sitting on the couch texting and oftentimes leaving the room for several minutes at a time when my sister or I were present. It was alarming that the nurse on guard thought they could leave the supervising to us. Many times, these «At risk of falling» patients including Joe would get up and try to walk out. My sister and I had to call for help because no one on staff was in the room. Patients in the «social room» constantly complained about having to use the restroom – the stench was obvious. These patients had to wait up to 30 minutes before getting help because nurses argued over who was going to take them. We tried to be present during some of Joe’s meals because we knew Joe was not eating; the nurses did not feed him. I only witnessed patients being given a sanitizing hand wipe once out of all the meals. And on two occasions my sister had to wipe fecal matter off of Joe’s fingers. This tells me his hands were not being washed regularly. When we showed the nurse, she said Joe did not wipe himself – whatever the case, it doesn’t explain why his hands were not cleaned. Side note: it was interesting to see the «Activities Director» come into the «social room» saying she plans activities for the patients only to find her pop in for a moment, play a 4.5 hour DVD and disappear. We never saw her again. I posted written reminders above Joe’s bed because staff coming to see him never knew his history. Joe was treated roughly. I had to remind staff of his dislocated shoulder, swollen legs and hip replacement surgery. We were scared us to think how he was treated when we were not present. When the nurses/​therapists were with him, Joe would cry out in pain. I would tell them that he had hip surgery and that his shoulder was dislocated and the reply was, «Which side?» When I asked about pain meds they told me he was on Tylenol – that was it. I asked if they could evaluate if there was anything else they could give him and we kept getting redirected to different nurses. We also had to ask staff to give attention to his hygiene (teeth-​brushing/​bathing). I was told «If you are concerned about his hygiene you can come and do it… so be here by 6 in the morning.» We also had to remind BW to do Joe’s laundry, especially after Joe was wearing the same clothes two days in a row. Again a nurse told us, «I recommend you do his laundry, it takes a week for it to get back.» I told her he has enough clothes for more than two weeks but we want to make sure it’s done weekly. She told me I should just do it. I noticed Joe had difficulty breathing on March 19^th. The nurse told me he was tired. A physical therapist came to his room on March 20^th and was not able to get Joe out of bed. I asked the PT about Joe’s breathing and he said it didn’t sound great and with the elderly pneumonia can be a problem. On March 21^st Joe’s breathing and crackling in his chest had not subsided. I expressed concern to the nurse and mentioned what the PT told me about pneumonia. She retorted, «Physical therapists shouldn’t be telling you these things getting you all worked up and stressed out.» I told her his breathing was my concern; she said the doctor won’t be in until Monday (March 23^rd). Later, the occupational therapist came in. When she realized Joe couldn’t open his eyes, I asked her about his breathing. I also noticed Joe had a temperature. She told me his breathing did not sound good and she called for the charge nurse who finally took his vitals – Joe did have a high temperature and his pulse was dangerously low. More than 90 minutes later, after two rounds of breathing treatment, the charge nurse finally called 9−1−1. When EMT arrived they allowed my sister and I to ride in the ambulance. EMT said the nurses at BW put Joe’s oxygen mask on backwards! When EMT asked how long Joe was having breathing difficulty, the nurse said «a few minutes.» We quickly interjected, «No, two days!» Joe was on the verge of death because of BW’s negligence.