Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Money
  • Election 2020
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Money
    Election 2020
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Citing psychiatric patient safety concerns, state disciplines Waterbury Hospital

  • by Arielle Levin Becker
  • January 18, 2012
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

State regulators have disciplined Waterbury Hospital after unannounced visits found multiple violations of care standards, including the continued use of psychiatric patient beds with side rails in the days after a patient used one to attempt suicide by hanging. The patient ultimately died.

In agreeing to a consent order with the state Department of Public Health, the hospital did not admit wrongdoing or fault. The order requires the hospital to pay a $5,000 fine and hire a clinical consulting firm to conduct onsite reviews and make recommendations for improvements. The hospital must also develop or revise certain policies and provide training to staff.

The consent order, signed Jan. 11, also incorporates the terms of a previous consent order that the hospital agreed to in February 2010.

The visits that led to the consent order signed this month took place from August through October 2010. Many of the violations regulators cited involved the hospital’s psychiatric unit.

Hospital spokesman Matt Burgard said that since the incidents cited in the report, the hospital conducted a thorough internal review of the unit, acquired new equipment and furniture, including beds, and enhanced safety measures used in the unit.

“We take this very seriously and we’re making a lot of efforts to address the concerns raised by the consent order,” he said.

In a report, state regulators cited the case of a person identified as Patient #1, who was admitted to the hospital after a suicide attempt. Two days after being admitted, Patient #1 told a nurse that he or she wanted to die. The patient was to be checked every 15 minutes, but 10 minutes after being checked, the patient’s roommate said someone needed to check on Patient #1.

Patient #1 was found hanging from the side rail of the bed with a sheet around his or her neck. The patient received treatment in the intensive care unit, but died three days later.

Five days after Patient #1 was found hanging from the side rail and two days after the patient’s death, 19 adult patients receiving treatment in the psychiatric unit were still in beds with side rails, according to the report. Some of those patients had recently attempted suicide or self-harm, the report said.

The nurse administrator told state regulators that all patients get suicide risk assessments when they are admitted, as well as on every shift. But the report said that once side rails were known to pose a safety risk, the staff failed to reassess patients for that risk.

Two days after Patient #1’s death and after the surveyor inquired, physicians conducted side rail safety assessments for all patients, according to the report. The hospital also developed a plan to address safety issues on the unit, requiring nursing staff to include side rails in their risk assessments and document it each shift.

The report also took issue with staffing levels for the psychiatric unit. Staffing was based on having an average of 19 patients in the unit, even though it had the capacity for 30. The director of acute care behavioral health services told regulators that the unit’s staffing guidelines did not reflect requirements for cases in which there were more than 19 patients in the unit, but said if the number of patients or acuity was high, staffing would increase. But according to the report, the director also said that there was no system in place to measure patient acuity. In addition, the report said, between July 18 and Aug. 4, 2010, patient census on the unit was higher than 19 for 10 days, but staffing was not increased on eight of them.

In addition, the report identified potential safety hazards in the hospital’s behavioral health unit, including non-breakaway clothes hooks inside patient closets; closet door hinges, bathroom door knobs and bedroom door locks that posed strangulation risks; and hand towel dispensers in patient rooms that could be used as weapons. A hospital committee had previously identified that the closet door hinges and door knobs could pose risks but they had not been addressed, according to the report.

Two other situations cited in the report related to patient privacy. In one case, a social worker used a lounge with other patients present to conduct an assessment of a patient who had recently attempted suicide. At one point, the patient said, “I don’t want anyone to hear,” according to the report. After the surveyor inquired, the patient and social worker moved to a private area.

In another case, a patient who was suicidal was found to have a knife hidden in his or her bedroom and was then placed in a hospital lounge 24 hours a day for safety. At night, the patient’s mattress was brought to the lounge, which the report said was an open area for the general population to use and provided no privacy.

The report also cited the cases of three patients who had dementia and were considered at risk of falling. The patients were put in medical restraint vests, but the report said there was no documentation indicating that there had been attempts to use less restrictive measures first.

Waterbury Hospital is in the process of forming a joint venture with the city’s St. Mary’s Hospital and LHP Hospital Group, a Texas company, that would lead to a new, single medical center for the city.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Arielle Levin Becker

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Connecticut’s $90M lobbying industry has a new player: former Speaker Joe Aresimowicz
by Mark Pazniokas

Former House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz is becoming a lobbyist, but a revolving-door law limits him for a year.

Spiking tax revenue will wipe out state budget deficit, analysts say
by Keith M. Phaneuf

Projected state revenues skyrocketed by $1.7 billion Friday, positioning officials to balance the next state budget without tax hikes.

Judge approves shorter sentence for convicted murderer turned prison mentor
by Kelan Lyons

The DOC could start screening Clyde Meikle in July for discharge to a halfway house.

Without vocal dissent, Senate confirms Justice Andrew McDonald
by Mark Pazniokas

The state Senate acted quickly Friday to confirm Andrew J. McDonald to a second term on the Supreme Court.

Funding to fix CT’s roads and bridges is drying up, and officials don’t have a solution
by Keith M. Phaneuf and Kasturi Pananjady

Connecticut's transportation building program is on a financial diet after a five-year ramp-up after lawmakers rejected tolls.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Evidence not clear that Trump incited Capitol destruction
by Alan Calandro

Defending President Donald Trump is not popular and I have no interest in writing this other than adherence to truth. Recognizing the truth (if we can find it, which is not always possible of course) should make us be able to come together around that and move on with a common understanding.

Opinion Securing our nuclear legacy: An open letter to President-elect Joe Biden
by Erik Assadourian

Dear President-elect Biden: As you noted in a tweet shortly after protestors stormed the Capitol on Wednesday, “Today is a reminder, a painful one, that democracy is fragile.” Indeed it is. And so are nation-states.

Opinion Last votes of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others
by Gary A. Franks

Finally, the election season is over. The historic elections we saw in this cycle were intriguing. The runoff elections for the U.S. Senate in Georgia put a cap on the campaign season. For many people this could be described as a COVID-19 election. I would argue that this was an election influenced by a pandemic but determined by the killing of unarmed Black people with no adequate justice for the Black community.

Opinion Not just environmental problem; Killingly plant is a great target
by Joel Gordes

In 1990, I was one of five legislators to introduce the first climate change legislation that became PA 90-219, An Act Considering Climate Change, the most popular bill of that session. Back then I considered climate change a national security issue… and I still do.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO