We hold medical professionals on a pedestal when they can be just as incompetent as any other person. I worked in a hospital where nurses were often disciplined for providing poor care, stealing patients' meds and even sleeping on shift. The union protects the nurses so they aren't booted out of the profession as they should be.

Where was the RN that should have been supervising. LPN's are not allowed to "assess" per state law. Hire more RN's and you may not have these issues. Very sad circumstance.

our Vets gave so much and all they want is the medical care they deserve...why cant the world give it back to them?

the head nurse gives all kinds of excuses why the medications aren't given accurately or recorded correctly. This is unacceptable. My heart goes out to that patient's family.

The "veteran" in this story was the nurse, not the resident.

...never mind, yes I am.

Our nursing homes need better funding to hire more and better-trained staff. An LPN receives little training at all before they're thrust into the healthcare field. It's easy to blame the LPN or the nursing home, but they are just the symptoms of the problem. Really it's us as a society that is to blame - we need to devote more of our contries resources to taking care of our elderly. Right now, the bare bones minimum goes into paying for the care our elderly need, and, we get what we pay for.

In regard to the comment on LPNs having minimal training, many nurses have minimal training including RNs and LPNs. LPN's are more likely to be the front-line worker and with experience they can be a great asset to the patient. Many RNs leave school and immediately work for hospitals and it is assumed that they are qualified to do their job because they have an Rn license, which may not be true. I would trust an LPN with experience over most RN's who do wonderful administrative jobs. It is typical of LPNs to train RNs, who then take over their job because of the license technicality, only to sit back and let the more qualified person do the job, who might be the LPN. We need to stop praising RNs at the expense of LPNs. The medical field is already struggling with financial woes due to the high cost of cares and only hiring the most expensive nurses would not only increase the financial burden, it might also put patients at risk due to under qualified RNs posing as qualified. nurses.

it's the greedy nursing home owners who are causing problems like this & not paying staff enough or running a bare bones operation. My mom pays over $6000/mo but you can bet the nurses & aides don't see much of that.

The facility "self reported" - and that is probably the only reason the State brought forth a charge of neglect. Had this been a complaint against the facility/nurse by a family member of the deceased - I can guarantee that the MN Dept of Health would have ruled it "inconclusive" or "unsubstantiated." There is a very cozy relationship between the MN Dept of Health and the nursing homes in Minnesota.