Laurels of Norworth The

My had a stroke and is paralyzed on her righ side and cannot speak. She has been in this nursing facility for less than a week and the nursing staff is incompetent. I called to speak to her nurse to see how she was doing and I had to call back 3 times to get someone on the phone. When I expressed my concerns over this to her nurse, she said that my aunt had a phone in her room and I can call her directly. I told her nurse that my aunt has had a stroke and cannot speak and said to her, you're her nurse, don't you know that? And she tells me, well she talks to me. My aunt says "Yes." to everything you ask her, it's what her rehab therapist calls an automatic response. And the nurse just kept saying, "Oh wow" to call my concerns. And today they told me she fell out of her bed at 2 a.m. this morning because the hospital bed she's in doesn't have rails. I asked weren't the rails up? And they said the bed doesn't have rails. Her friend just texted me after seeing her this evening and she said the bed was down so low it was practically on the floor. So, tomorrow is Monday and I'm going to check into moving her in the morning.

After my mother went to the hospital, the doctors all recommended that a memory care facility would probably be better for her, and I reluctantly agreed because it was becoming too much to take care of her at home. Unfortunately the memory care centers that I've looked at all have waiting lists, and the hospital wouldn't keep her until I could find suitable placement. So they found a rehabilitation place at The Laurels. At first, I expected it would be okay temporarily, but the more I would visit, the more red flags would pop up. Every time I visit, there'd always be a pungent smell of urine and feces in the hallway as if it's old smell. I've been to many other facilities and none had this problem. Activities just consisted of playing the same music every day really loudly to drown out the moans and screams of some of the residents. One gentleman was having problems standing up and one worker was very worried about his low blood sugar and asked another worker to get him some juice or something to which the other worker replied she would later?!? I agree with other reviews that they are understaffed, and while there are a few good workers there, it seems too many are concerned with going to their cars for smoke breaks. For instance, it wasn't until almost a week of visiting that someone finally was at the front desk and informed me about signing the log. Or sometimes it was almost impossible to find someone to unlock the doors of the memory unit because it seemed all the workers had disappeared.

I didn't like the facility. Dad didn't get the physical therapy that he needed after his knee surgery. My mother and sister visited him more just to see that he was comfortable and that he would stay there longer than he would because once he came home, he wouldn't do anything at all, and dad is pretty stubborn. However, he didn't get enough therapy, and he wasn't happy at the Laurels; he wasn't content at all.

Right now, I’m in The Laurels. I don’t like anything here. They work under very bad conditions where they’re out of supplies all the time. There are a lot of individuals that don’t speak English and makes it very difficult for other staff and the residents. Those individuals also have bad attitudes. You don’t find them communicating with the patients or holding conversations. The food is all carbs, and I seldom get what I have listed on my menu; it’s always wrong. They mop through the middle of the floors. It’s seldom dusted and if you have plants, they’ll die because they don’t water plants.

While they have an alzheimers unit, they suffer from the same problems that seem prevalent in the industry - underpaid, poorly trained, poorly motivated care givers. While there are a few motivated, top notch people on staff, most are just doing what they have to and incidents of poor care are common. It is essential that the family carefully monitor the care and immediately and consistently bring up concerns with management. You cannot assume that they know what they are doing and are doing the right thing. Weekends and nights are typically the worst since the staff is minimal and in general less knowledgeable and conscientious than weekdays.