Two separate incidents of nursing home neglect resulting in the death of vulnerable adults have been in the news in recent weeks.

In Braham, Minnesota, a severely disabled man drowned in the bathtub at a group home when the employee charged with assisting him left him to take a phone call. His care plan required that he never be left alone during bathing.

Although the employee said she was only on the phone for a minute, phone records show she was on the call for six minutes. She told the police that when she returned and found the resident under water she pulled him from the tub and called 911. Again her story did not match the phone records, which showed a 31 minute gap between the first call and her call to 911. The employee was doing CPR when the police arrived but she was doing chest compressions on his back, which is improper.

In this case of lack of supervision at a group home, the employee has been charged with manslaughter. It is unknown if the man's family will bring a civil case for damages.

A Jefferson County, Texas case is going to court as the family of Pearl Green sues the Senior Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center for wrongful death. The elderly woman was admitted to the nursing home because she required care for respiratory failure and pneumonia. She had a tracheostomy tube in place.

An employee at the nursing home noted that she was having difficulty breathing and that the trach tube needed to be suctioned. She reported it to the resident nurse who allegedly told her she was "too busy" to provide care. The patient became unresponsive and suffered cardiopulmonary arrest. Although she was resuscitated at the hospital, she had suffered extensive brain damage from lack of oxygen.

For the families who had entrusted these facilities with the care of their loved one, the pain of their loved one's death is made worse by the fact that simple, avoidable negligence led to the tragedy.

Source: CBS Minnesota, "Group Home worker Charged in Resident's Drowning," September 29, 2011 and Southeast Texas Record, "Nurse 'Too Busy' to Help Nursing Home Patient Hastened Death, Suit Alleges," by David Yates, 10/5/11.