Burien Nursing And Rehabilitation Center

The worst months of my partner's life was spent at Burien Nursing and Rehab. I am very grateful that she survived the experience, but it took her over a year to recover from it,

My partner entered this facility for a short term stay. She had had a fall at home, and it was deemed unsafe for her to return until she had rebuilt some strength.

When she entered the facility, the staff was informed that she was on a gout diet as she had had a severe episode of gout prior to admission. The staff totally disregarded these instructions no matter how many times the importance of this diet was explained. When I expressed concern over the way my partner was acting, the nursing home staff ignored me. While in the facility my partner was erroneously diagnosed with congestive heart failure, (due to the use of poor diagnostic tools.) This mistake alone took 6 months to clear up. She spent the majority of time at the facility in a state of delirium. They had her over medicated on morphine ( a drug which she had had previous allergic reactions to,) and to this day does not recall the majority of her time there. The nursing assistants were known to leave her on a bed pan for as long as an hour and a half, and when I complained, I was called a "bitch" by the staff member who had done it. (I am not exaggerating, that was her exact word). Because of improper procedures in hygiene. two weeks after she got out of the nursing home, she was diagnosed with a UTI caused by e. Coli. She had numerous drug reactions at the facility and lost all the skin on her hands. I personally had to point out rashes to them before anything was done about them. She checked into this nursing home with low potassium and after less than 2 weeks of returning home, she was back in the hospital with a potassium level that was sky high. (She should have had a heart attack) We suspect that no one at the hospital was following up with the blood work.

Every time I tried to get her out of this hell hole, I was told she would only be there for another week, it was not worth the effort to find her a new facility, and that it was not my decision as she was "competent".

If I had any way of suing them I would. Given the state of turmoil we were in during her stay there, I was not able to document anything. To add insult to injury, the nursing home sued my partner when we refused to pay the coinsurance on the bill. (I personally think they should be grateful that they got paid anything). After the care she received at this nursing home, my partner was unable to return to work and had to retire. She ended up in the hospital twice more within the same year, and at a different, much better facility. Thanks to the hospital and rehab stays, she is doing much much better, but I will never forgive them for what they put us both through. I visited my partner every day and most nights I came home crying. It was the longest 5 weeks of my life. I have always been extremely skeptical of nursing facilities, and Burien Nursing and Rehab has made me terrified of these places.

by Verified visitor, Dec 2010