gjzpynd.info

The student loan consolidation is the merging of several student loans, and is done to save money on interest and for the convenience of one payment instead of several. There are plenty of things you should know about student loan consolidation, and this site provides the information you need to make a decision.Consolidation Loan – InformationIt is very likely that if you went to college is likely to stay with some kind of student loan debt. Each year, borrow, this is a new and unique loan that helps pay for your tuition and living expenses. When all is said and done, however, one of the best ways to save money is through student loan consolidation. In a student loan consolidation you get a loan paid in full.The student loan consolidation is a mystery to many college students and graduates. The truth is, however, the consolidation loan can save you much money. In addition, you can pay off your debt faster so that your college years are not chasing you in your retirement years. What a relief loan consolidation provides students.There are many ways you can get a consolidation loan. You can get federal loans, a bank or a private lender, but no matter what you choose to do so; consolidation will have a big effect on getting out of college under their debt. The idea is that it takes only one payment per month, so you can pay your debt off faster and with lower monthly payments than you think normally.Loan consolidation current studentsIt is a fact that almost half of all college students graduate with a degree of student loan debt. The average debt of $ 20,000 is focused on. That means an entire population of young people with serious debt and no education on how to deal with it. Most do not know, but the truth is that many of these students are met to consolidate loans and at school.Despite what many believe, student loan consolidation does not have to wait until after college. In fact, there are many benefits that have been consolidating while you are still in school. Consolidating student loans while in school can lessen the debt before you even start to pay debts. That, however, is only the beginning.Another advantage of the consolidation of student loan debt while still in school is that you can avoid any increases in interest. In July 2006, interest rates for federal student loans rose sharply. There is nothing that prevents this kind of tours that take place once again. The sooner your debt is consolidated and locked, the less likely victim of a rapid rate of rise.As with anything, make sure that consolidating student loan debt before you graduate will work for your specific situation. In most cases, however, is a good financial base and move forward. Lightening your debt before he was even paying it is a great benefit. Indeed, it can be the difference in paying their loans off in 10 years or 30 years.Benefit CreditConsolidating your student loan debt can do more than just reduce your long-term debt. The fact is that consolidation could help you increase your credit score during the loan. This, in turn, will help you buy a better car, get the house you want, or end up with a lower rate credit card. But how can a debt consolidation student loan can help you increase your credit? Consider some of the measures used by credit rating agencies reporting.First, further opening the accounts with the lowest score will be, in general. Throughout his student life, which will be held until 8 loans to pay for their education. Each of these is shown as a separate account with its own interest payments and principal. By consolidating, you close the accounts to one account. So instead of 8 open accounts, you have one. This right will not help you qualify.Second, you will have lower payments after you have consolidated your student loans. When the number of agencies reporting your credit score, they do looking at their minimum monthly payment. Instead of having several payments per month for your student loans, you have a payment that is less than the sum of the payments of age. Again, consolidation helps your score.As a final point, that improving your debt to credit rationing. When your score is figured, the presentation of reports have companies check your debt to available credit test versus credit used. When you have more credit available, but less used (like when you consolidate student loan debt) after the case of a higher score. So, if for no other reason, consider consolidating to help your credit score.Beware of traps when you make loan consolidationAs we approach the end of his college career, you have undoubtedly received a number of flyers, mail and e-mail about consolidating your loans. Each company has any reason you should go to them for their consolidation. However, you should be aware that sometimes there are many catches all those promises. Knowledge of the catch can help you prepare to make a wise decision on your consolidation loan. Do not drop the first consolidation of trading that falls into your lap. Carefully consider the options that are delivered to you.A bonus can be offered is common to all discounts. They will tell you that if you make a series of payments on time, you will receive a discount. The only problem is that to maintain the discount, you have to make timely payments for the loan after that. That may have up to 20 years. A delay in the payment in one day during that time and “discount” is gone.Another way to get caught in a plus is when you receive the offer of an all in one building. In this loan, the company offers to take in all of its debt, including credit cards, car loans, and any other debt you have. It is tempting to have everything wrapped into one loan, but lose the ability to defer its predecessor or student loans. The loan will no longer be protected as a student loan.As a final point, be careful with changing your email address or moving. One or two letters misdirected, or worse, the wrong orientation of emails and a lender can make you pay the price. You could lose a discount or paid excessive fees. Therefore, it is unaware of any company that offers strictly to work with you via email.Know what you get when it comes to consolidation loansIt is important to be familiar with what they are entitled under the Higher Education Act. There are certain advantages for a federal student loan and consolidating it. Note that many lenders offer special advantages consolidation as these that are giving away. They are, in fact, offers to do. Consider some of the most common.At the same time if you got a letter advertising the beauty is that a company is willing to offer a fixed rate? If you have, not surprisingly. In fact, everyone should offer a fixed rate under the Higher Education Act. This is not a bonus, just what you expect. Do not drop the line that are offering more than they deserve.Another you might notice is that there will be a credit check. Again, this is not only common but also necessary. All companies that work with the student loan consolidation have to do without a credit check. Knowing what a company is obliged to offer you help in determining if the institution is actually offering a bargain or are misleading, you may believe you are getting a real bargain, more than are required to receive by law.As a final point, you should never have prepayment penalties. No matter what the company advertises that all their loans without prepayment penalties consolidate. This is nothing special. When you are seeking privileges, then just make sure you are offering something really special.Myths about consolidation loansAs with any financial matter, there are a lot of misinformation floating around the student loan consolidation. These little myths often keep people from consolidation when, in fact, is best for them. By taking a look at some of the most common myths, you will be able to understand what is true and what is not there.It is absolutely certain that you will lose your eligibility deferment if consolidating your student loans. By consolidating, in fact, to keep the core deferments can be a great help pay part of the time. Deferrals can be made because in school, go to graduate school, economic hardship, unemployment and to name a few.Consolidating your student loan is not like this refinancing the house necessarily. Some people worry that if they consolidated from over payments and interest and will end up paying more in the long run. That’s not true. On the one hand, you can pay early with no penalty. Second, get a better rate and can repay all loans under which a fee. The consolidation, if anything, reduce the term loan when it’s all said and done.As a last point, it is easy to think that consolidation is for those who do not know what they are doing with their loans. It is unclear whether this idea comes from, but is so common that many believe it is and the avoidance of consolidation. The truth is that consolidating your student loans, in most cases, a sound financial move. You save money and reduce the loan period. It’s that simple.Loan consolidation, as doThe process of getting your student loans consolidated is surprisingly easy. Once you have determined that you use for your consolidation application is only about a page long. Even more exciting is that there are several ways to fill the requests. Take a look at the various options available to you so you can decide which way works best for you.One option is, of course, do so in person. You can always go to the bank or financial institution that is to consolidate your loan and take care of it. Fill, sign, and he did and in his way. The lender will review your request and contact you with your decision. Whatever, if they live nearby?Surprisingly, you can complete your application over the phone. It is not really fill you on the phone, but the introduction of information you can go ahead and lock types for consolidation. Once you have done this, it will likely be sent by email or documents for you to finish complete, sign and send back in.Third, at this time is not surprising that you can complete your application consolidation loan over the Internet. Many lenders have secure websites with the application there to fill. Once they do fit, you get a copy, and all the care within days.Find your lenderObviously, before it can consolidate, you need to find a lender with which to organize their consolidation. Fortunately, there is much competition out there, which means two things. This means that companies are easy to find and they are all willing to compete for your business.The first place to look may be just around the corner or in your mailbox. As we approach the end of school or after the change, about every lender will send you a flyer, email, brochures, catalogs or information about the consolidation of their packages. There is nothing wrong with looking through these free brochures. Many times you will find a good package that way.Another option, of course, is to talk to your school’s financial aid office. Someone can help you find what you need. What’s more, they have had experience in the area to know what to look for and what to avoid.As a final point, you can watch online. There are many options available and easy to shop that way. Be sure to contact the places in person or by phone, however, before completing paperwork. That way you can be sure that everything is at maximum and more. It’s a good way to avoid online fraud and only those who seek their harvest information and move on.As you can see, there are many options to find your company to consolidate student loans. Just make sure you always compare and ask questions. In the end, the best consolidation company is giving you what you want.Problems with your payment?No matter what you do with the consolidation, it is possible that your student loan debt can become too high. With only ten years to repay, could end up with fairly high payment, especially if you go to graduate school or even add more years to student work. Stop payments can really put a cramp in your financial situation. There is an answer, however. If loans and payments are too unbearable, you can always expand. You can take the loan and stretch over years in many cases.Although the standard is 10, your consolidation loan can, in most cases, taken out much longer. You can stretch to 15, 20 or even 30 years. You will earn more interest that way, but with a lower monthly payment, you will have more capital available with which to live your life. You have to decide if you are willing to pay more in interest to make your finances more manageable.Think of it like this. Would you rather own a home and a new car while paying a little more interest, or if you do not pay their loans off in 10 years, but years pass, in a small apartment with a bad car and not rent available? Most prefer the former over the latter. Therefore, there is no shame in extending the loan if that is what we do.

It is not possible to describe a highly complex and dynamic process such as occupational health nursing simply in terms of core activities or tasks. Occupational Health Nurse (OHA) are constantly learning new skills, adapting current practices to meet new needs and developing new approaches to solving problems and therefore their practice is not static but is constantly improving based upon a core range of skills.However, within this limitation it is possible to describe those core areas of knowledge and competence that occupational health nurses use. The following list is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather to give an indication of the wide range of competencies that occupational health nurses demonstrate in practice.The ClinicianPrimary preventionThe OHA is skilled in primary prevention of injury or disease. The nurse may identify the need for, assess and plan interventions to, for example modify working environments, systems of work or change working practices in order to reduce the risk of hazardous exposure. Occupational health nurses are skilled in considering factors, such as human behavior and habits in relation to actual working practices. The nurse can also collaborate in the identification, conception and correction of work factors, choice of individual protective equipment, prevention of industrial injuries and diseases, as well as providing advice in matters concerning protection of the environment. Because of the occupational health nurses close association with the workers, and knowledge and experience in the working environment, they are in a good position to identify early changes in working practices, identify workers concerns over health and safety, and by presenting these to management in an independent objective manner can be the catalyst for changes in the workplace that lead to primary prevention.Emergency careThe OHA is a Registered Nurse with a great deal of clinical experience and expertise in dealing with sick or injured people. The nurse may, where such duties form part of their job, provide initial emergency care of workers injured at work prior to transfer of the injured worker to hospital or the arrival of the emergency services. In many instances, where hazardous conditions exist at work, or where the workplace is far removed from other health care facilities, this role will form a major part of an occupational health nurse’s job. Occupational health nurses employed in mines, on oil rigs, in the desert regions or in areas where the health care systems are not yet fully developed will be familiar with a wide range of emergency care techniques and may have developed additional skills in order to fulfill this role. For others, who are working in situations where the emergency services are on hand, they may simply provide an additional level of support beyond that provided by the industrial first aider.Nursing diagnosisOccupational health nurses are skilled in assessing client’s health care needs, establish a nursing diagnosis and formulating appropriate nursing care plans, in conjunction with the patient or client groups, to meet those needs. Nurses can then implement and evaluate nursing interventions designed to achieve the care objectives. The nurse has a prominent role in assessing the needs of individuals and groups, and has the ability to analyze, interpret, plan and implement strategies to achieve specific goals. By using the nursing process the nurse contributes to workplace health management and by so doing helps to improve the health of the working population at the shop floor level. Nursing diagnosis is a holistic concept that does not focus solely on the treatment of a specific disease, but rather considers the whole person and their health care needs in the broadest context. It is a health based model rather than a disease based model and nurses have the skills to apply this approach with the working populations they serve.General Health advice and health assessmentThe OHA will be able to give advice on a wide range of health issues, and particularly on their relationship to working ability, health and safety at work or where modifications to the job or working environment can be made to take account of the changing health status of employees.In many respects employers are not solely concerned with only those conditions that are directly caused by work, but do want their occupational health staff to help address any health related problems that may arise that might influence the employees attendance or performance at work, and many employees appreciate this level of help being provided to them at the workplace because it is so convenient for them. In particular the development of health care services to men at work, younger populations and those from ethnic groups can be most effective in reaching these sometimes difficult to reach populations.Research and the use of evidence based practiceIn addition to utilizing information and knowledge produced by research in various fields to support activities that relate to the occupational health component of their role, occupational health nurses will also utilize fully research information available from many fields to help support the general health of the working population.SpecialistOccupational health policy, and practice development, implementation and evaluationThe specialist occupational health nurse may be involved, with senior management in the company, in developing the workplace health policy and strategy including aspects of occupational health, workplace health promotion and environmental health management. The OH nurse is in a good position to advise management on the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of workplace health management strategies and to participate fully in each of these stages. Possibility to perform that role will depend upon level of nurse education, skills and experience.Occupational health assessmentOHA’s can play an essential role in health assessment for fitness to work, pre-employment or pre-placement examinations, periodic health examinations and individual health assessments for lifestyle risk factors.Collaboration with occupational physician may be necessary in many instances, depending upon exiting legislation and accepted practice. The nurse can also play an important role in the workplace where informal requests for information, advice on health care matters and health related problems come to light. The nurse is able to observe the individual or group of workers in relation to exposure to a particular hazard and initiate appropriate targeted health assessment where necessary. These activities are often, but not exclusively, undertaken in conjunction with the medical adviser so that where problems are identified a safe system for onward referral exists.Health surveillanceWhere workers are exposed to a degree of residual risk of exposure and health surveillance is required by law the OHA will be involved in undertaking routine health surveillance procedures, periodic health assessment and in evaluating the results from such screening processes. The nurse will need a high degree of clinical skill when undertaking health surveillance and maintain a high degree of alertness to any abnormal findings. Early referral to an occupational health physician or other appropriate specialist will be the responsibility of the occupational health nurse where any abnormality is detected. The nurse will be involved in supporting the worker throughout any further examination or investigation, and may help to monitor their health on return to work. Once alerted to the possibility of an adverse health effect the occupational health nurse is in a good position to co-ordinate efforts to re-evaluate working practices in order to help protect others who may be similarly affected.

The IRS has been aggressive recently in pursuing tax cheats who have hidden assets in offshore accounts. Penalties for not reporting the existence of foreign accounts are steep, which concerns even honest businesses and individuals that are unsure about their filing obligations.Generally, U.S. taxpayers with a financial interest in foreign financial accounts are required to file Form TD F 90-22.1, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (often referred to as the “FBAR”), when the aggregate value of those accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during a calendar year. Such accounts include, but are not limited to, checking, savings, securities, brokerage, mutual fund and other pooled investment accounts held outside the United States. Individuals with signature authority over, but no financial interest in, one or more accounts with the same qualifications must file an FBAR as well. This latter requirement has caused much confusion and concern among executives with some level of discretion over their employers’ foreign financial accounts.Last February the Treasury Department published final amendments to the FBAR regulations to clarify filing obligations. These regulations became effective on March 28 and apply to FBAR filings reporting foreign financial accounts maintained in calendar year 2010 and for all subsequent years.These new regulations also specifically apply to people who only have signature authority over foreign financial accounts and who properly deferred their FBAR filing obligations for calendar years 2009 and earlier. The deadline for these individuals to file the FBAR was extended until Nov. 1, 2011.The IRS also ended an offshore voluntary disclosure initiative as of Sept. 9. During this initiative, the IRS offered a uniform penalty structure for taxpayers who came forward to report previously undisclosed foreign accounts, as well as any unreported income generated or held in those accounts, during tax years 2003 through 2010. Even though the window to participate in the program has closed, the initiative’s FAQs make clear that those with only signature authority on foreign accounts should still file delinquent FBAR reports.Signature Authority ExceptionWhat does signature (or other) authority mean, as far as the IRS is concerned? The final regulations define signature or other authority as follows:”Signature or other authority means the authority of an individual (alone or in conjunction with another) to control the disposition of money, funds or other assets held in a financial account by direct communication (whether in writing or otherwise) to the person with whom the financial account is maintained.”According to this definition, executives and other employees aren’t necessarily required to file an FBAR simply because they have authority over their business’ foreign financial accounts. Under the final regulations, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) grants relief from the obligation to report signature or other authority over a foreign financial account to the officers and employees of five categories of entities that are subject to specific types of Federal regulation. Among these categories are publicly traded companies listed on a U.S. national securities exchange, and companies with more than 500 shareholders and more than $10 million in assets. For publicly traded companies, officers and employees of a U.S. subsidiary may not need to submit an FBAR either, as long as the U.S. parent corporation files a consolidated FBAR report that includes the subsidiary. These exceptions only apply when the employees or officers don’t have a financial interest in the accounts in question.However, the regulations provide that the reporting exception is limited to foreign financial accounts directly owned by the entity that employs the officer or employee who has signature authority. The exception doesn’t apply if the individual is employed by the parent company, but has signature authority over the foreign account of the company’s domestic subsidiary. Further, foreign accounts owned by foreign subsidiaries of a U.S. corporation are not eligible for this reporting exception.For example, if the Acme Corp. owns foreign financial accounts, the executives with signature authority over those accounts must also be employees of Acme Corp. in order to qualify for the exception. If a U.S. subsidiary of Acme Corp. owns those accounts, the executives with signature authority over the accounts must be employed by the subsidiary (not Acme Corp. directly), and Acme Corp. must file a consolidated FBAR that includes the subsidiary for the exception to apply.Determining Signature AuthorityEven if a company’s officers or executives do not qualify for the signature authority exception, it is still possible that they may not be required to file. According to the final regulations:”The test for determining whether an individual has signature or other authority over an account is whether the foreign financial institution will act upon a direct communication from that individual regarding the disposition of assets in that account. The phrase “in conjunction with another” is intended to address situations in which a foreign financial institution requires a direct communication from more than one individual regarding the disposition of assets in the account.”An executive who merely participates in the decision to allocate assets, or who has the ability to instruct others with signature authority over a reportable account, is not considered to have signature authority him- or herself, unless the foreign financial institution will accept instructions from that executive with regard to disposing account assets. If the individual in question only advises or oversees the account’s direction, it is possible he or she doesn’t have to file.Penalties for Not FilingAccording to the FBAR filing instructions, a person who is required to file a FBAR may be subject to a civil penalty up to $10,000 if he or she fails to properly file. If there is reasonable cause for the failure and the account balance is properly reported, no penalty will be imposed.Although not defined in the final regulations or the FBAR filing instructions, it appears that the Department of Treasury will follow the reasonable cause standard defined in the Internal Revenue Code (Sections 6664 and 6724) and the Treasury Regulations (Sections 1.6664-4 and 301.6724-1). Generally, these are circumstances out of the taxpayer or entity’s control. Note that the IRS does not consider being unaware of the FBAR filing requirement as a reasonable cause.Determining whether “the account balance was properly reported” is less clear. Individuals report their interest and dividend income on Schedule B of their income tax returns. Part III of Schedule B pertains to foreign accounts and trusts. Checking “yes” in this section to indicate a financial interest in or signature authority over a financial account in a foreign country may or may not be sufficient for meeting the “properly reported” standard. Reporting all of the income generated by the foreign account may or may not be sufficient either. According to a reader of Palisades Hudson’s Current Commentary blog, the latter does not satisfy the requirement to avoid penalty. The reader is a U.S. citizen living in New Zealand and is married to a nonresident alien. He mentioned that he reported all of his income from foreign financial accounts on his U.S. individual income tax return, but has been assessed the penalty because he did not file a FBAR.The penalty is more severe, of course, for a person who willfully fails to report an account or account identifying information. Such person may be subject to a civil monetary penalty equal to the greater of $100,000, or 50 percent of the balance in the foreign financial account at the time of the violation, as well as possible criminal penalties. The reasonable cause exception does not apply to willful violations.In the course of researching this topic, I contacted the IRS Bank Secrecy Act Telephone Helpline to get a better understanding of the penalty for employees with signature authority over, but no financial interest in, an employer’s foreign financial account. According to the representative with whom I spoke, the penalty would not be assessed on the employees for merely having signature authority over assets for which they have no beneficial interest. The representative has not seen an instance in which the employee was assessed a penalty for not having filed a FBAR under these circumstances.The IRS representative also mentioned that the IRS has been very lenient on such filers. If anything, she said, the penalty would be assessed on the employer, if the business had not been reporting the accounts and the income generated in those accounts. If it is determined that the executives have a filing requirement, the representative said that the executives should file the FBAR by completing Parts I (Filer Information) and IV (Information on Financial Account(s) Where Filer has Signature Authority but No Financial Interest in the Account(s)), along with an attachment explaining why this is the first time the executive is filing the FBAR.If it is still unclear whether an employee qualifies for the signature authority exception and it appears that the employee has discretion over a business’ foreign financial accounts, we recommend filing the FBAR. The form generally does not take much time to prepare, and the potential cost of not doing so is too high to justify the risk.Executives who prepare – or hire an accountant to prepare – FBARs for business accounts over which they have signature authority must also report any personal foreign financial accounts for which they have a financial interest or signature authority (regardless of the balances in those accounts). The filing requirement mandates that all foreign financial accounts be reported if the aggregate value of the foreign accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year.While foreign financial accounts have become a favorite IRS target, executives and the companies who employ them generally needn’t worry. Awareness of the rules and attention to the accounts will ensure tax compliance and the avoidance of incurring needless penalties.Advisors authorized to practice before the IRS, like Palisades Hudson, must caution clients in any written communication that could be construed as tax advice that: Any advice contained herein (1) was not written and is not intended to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of avoiding any federal tax penalty that may be imposed on the taxpayer, and (2) may not be used in connection with promoting, marketing or recommending to another person any transaction or matter addressed herein.

*The reader decides what is good in each individual case. If any suggestion or advice is not helpful in your case, the authors suggest that you do not use it. Each case is individual; each case is different. Be your own judge of what is good in your particular case.WOW! So you have a complaint! So, you have a serious complaint! What do you do? How do you pile through all the red tape of dealing with nursing homes and physical rehabilitation centers? Have you been given the run-around by a physical rehabilitation center or nursing home. Do they ignore your questions or requests? Does it seem like you are invisible to them? Have you made legitimate requests and been ignored at every turn? Does it “seem” like the corporate persons or people in charge or the licensed social workers are taking advantage of the situation?Is the center or nursing home ignoring bedsores that were acquired right there in the center or nursing home. Those are questions to ask yourself when you feel like you are getting the run-around when dealing with health or financial issues in relation to physical rehabilitation centers and nursing homes in this world.And there are more questions; you probably can think of hundreds of questions yourself. How about these questions? Do they wait days or even weeks before the patient or resident is given proper care? Does it “appear” that the physical rehabilitation center or nursing home is doing “more bad than good”? And are they covering this up with avoidance or fabrication? Do these sound like the same complaints that you have about a particular rehabilitation center or nursing home? If they do sound similar or the same, your first steps in protecting the patient, resident and family can be found here in this self-help article.Have you caught the place in outright lies? What has been your experience in dealing with physical rehabilitation center s and nursing homes? Everyone has a different experience. And while some might have a good experience, there e are possibly dozens or hundreds of others who are having bad experiences or terrible experiences inside physical rehabilitation centers and nursing homes.So, what is your experience? And If you have a bad experience, how do you handle it; How d o you react and how do you act in order to benefit the patient or resident inside the home?First, build a solid base of honesty, and if there is no honesty inside the nursing home or rehabilitation center, if there is no honesty coming from the staff or supervisors, then build a case for proving their dishonesty. Once you have seen that staff or supervisors or administrators have lied about circumstances, and then you need to protect yourself from happening that happen again.For example, if the rehabilitation staff is claiming that something happened or is happening and you know for a fact that this is not true, then any future contact that you have with them might end up the same way. So how do you protect yourself under these circumstances?Put It In Writing!WRITING! Yes, a simple thing like writing changes all perspectives of a particular situation. Writing can bring a situation around to having more honesty, to having the staff and social workers and administrators “become” more honest. Once they see that something is in “writing” –in “print”, they might think twice about compromising their honesty and integrity. So, if anyone at any of those places has lied or fabricated, made up a story or ignored any of your verbal requests, it would be just common sense to have future dealings with them in “writing”.Once a physical rehabilitation center has lied or misconstrued something or ignored your serious verbal complaints, it might be time to hit the typewriters and computers and compose a letter -IN WRITING– to the administrators or supervisors that are responsible in the corporate setting. If you have serious complaints and your complaints are being ignored, it might be the time that you put your serious complaints in writing and it might be the time to send such complaints by certified mail or by express mail or by priority mail.What? What if you cannot afford these types of mail services? Have no fear! You can properly complain in writing and still have proof that you sent your letter -by asking the post office for a “certificate of mail”. This is a small white receipt that is postmarked by the Postal worker, and then your letter is “on record” for being mailed at the US Post Office. This service is under two dollars per letter. (It might be under one dollar and fifty cents; check with your local post office). ALWAYS put your complaints in writing once your verbal complaints have been ignored or once stories have been fabricated by any staff or personnel at any physical rehabilitation centers or nursing homes.Staff who are honest and personnel who are honest will not resent or be bothered by any complaints that are put in writing. It is only dishonest staff and dishonest personnel and dishonest licensed workers at physical rehabilitation centers and nursing homes that would be upset about any complaint put in writing. If staff is honest, they will respond professionally; if they are dishonest, they will dig their own hole deeper. Be forewarned that the battle gets tougher and the steps get deeper once you decide to register your formal complaints, so it might help you to have a few others on your side.Helpful Hints:Keep a Journal.Begin a journal book and record EVERYTHING that happens -time, date, place, day, occurrence and the person’s involved. KNOW that this corporate place is doing that so, you get on board and keep your own records, your own journal book/diary, regarding all issues and applicable communications, calls, visits. This is vitally important for your own protection from unscrupulous rehabilitation centers and nursing homeKeep records and copies.Make a record of every phone call and every conversation, topic, date, time, day, and topic of conversation with details -every time you speak with someone regarding the rehabilitation center or nursing home. Some individuals make tape recordings of their phone calls. As long as “you” speak during that conversation, and you are “present” in that conversation, then this is not “eavesdropping” but simply a recorded conversationDocument everything.Document everything that is done, everything that is said, everything that is not done and not said, to have accurate records of what is happening. Your documentation can mean the difference between success and failure, so document NOW- even before you have need to document things.Have Everyone Join In and Check licenses:Bring your entire family into the picture. Instead of one person doing all the work and making the complaints, ask all the family members who are available to help out and file their own complaints, either with the corporate place or with outside complaint agencies. The more participants the better. Consider, that’s consider, reporting any unscrupulous “licensed” individuals to the appropriate “licensing” bureaus. In some states the places that give licenses is the Department of Education, in other states, it is another department.Research online and be persistent:Go online and do a search of any and all organizations that are there to help you with complaints against physical rehabilitation centers and nursing homes. Do a thorough search and you will come up with, maybe, more help than you need.Be persistent in your complaint. KNOW that so many others have been successful in battling bad nursing homes. Check out the article about a Southern California lawyer who successfully is getting settlements of more than a few million dollars from unscrupulous nursing homes who “lied about the quality of care inside the nursing home. Now, nursing homes are going to be more careful about what they “advertise” because if they do not produce what they advertise, they just might end up in some million dollar lawsuits -against them. One nursing home that has recently settled because it decided that it was better to settle than to go through a lawsuit for false advertising. It’s tempting to give up when a large corporation is battling against you, especially when they are battling with illegal or unscrupulous tactics, but always have hope. Always know that all throughout history, eventually good conquered evil. Even when things looked worse in history and in life, good always survives and the truth always comes out. So have hope knowing that you are in good company and you will prevail with your honest reports to the appropriate places.Stay connected to win!You cannot underestimate the power of being connected. Talk with everyone you know, everyone you trust about the situation but without mentioning names. Ask for any and all help that you can get in fighting the red tape, the fabrication, the lies, and the unscrupulous dealings of any happenings inside of bad nursing homes and bad physical rehabilitation centers. If you are staying in a nursing home for rehabilitation, ask everyone you know if they know about your particular residence. Always listen to your gut instinct, no matter what anyone says. You can do whatever you set out to do, just make sure that you always listen to yourself.Now, gather your evidence.Gather the rest of your evidence. Who would think that nursing home advertisements would be helpful in bringing down a nursing home which is giving inadequate care or bad care? Well, think again. Read the news articles, and go at once to gather any and all of the advertising that any offending nursing home or any offending rehabilitation care center is giving out. Do you have a brochure? Look in your newspapers, where local places advertise. Tear out and save any and all advertisements that those places offer. Buy the newspaper or get the newspaper at your library and read about all the things that these care centers “offer” to their patients and residents. SAVE EVERYTHING! If a nursing home or care center is offering a certain kind of care, certain kinds of rooms or certain kinds of services ONLY in advertising but not in reality, then perhaps that particular corporation can be brought to law to be accountable for all of its false advertising. Be persistent. Study , research, and keep your research and keep your evidence. Then and if you decide to sue, you will have enough physical evidence to present to your lawyer. You just might win your case.Value trust and guard it.Forget trust? Wow. How can we say such a thing and be serious? Here’s how. If you are dealing with a rehabilitation center or nursing home and some or any of the staff has already fabricated stories, withheld or lied or ignored your legitimate requests perhaps this is time that you should remember that these people should not and cannot be trusted. Why? Well, if they lied to you once, what stops them from fibbing to you or withholding vital information from you twice or three times or even all the time? If they have already thrown your trust in the garbage, how do you get that trust back and protect yourself? Usually, once staff lies to you, you can ALMOST be sure that they will lie again. After all, how do they cover up their first lie? They can only do that by either apologizing for their first lie – which won’t happen- or by continuing to lie to you again and again. So, if this applies to you, the “forget trust”. We are not claiming that everyone inside a nursing home lies; what we are stating is that sometimes “SOME” staff at some nursing homes cover up the truth simply because they are afraid of losing their jobs. After all, if a nursing home lets someone wait for hours and hours to go to the bathroom and if a staff member complains about this -what happens to that staff person? So when bad things happen inside of good or inside of bad nursing homes, the staff is pressured to cover up the lacks and to cover up the bad things that are happening –under the pressure of losing their jobs if they speak out.Remember the eight nurses who walked out.Look at what happened to those eight nurses who walked off the job due to bad conditions. That was in the news. EIght – not one, but eight nurses walked off in unity, yet even they had the tables turned on them. So, good employees are pressured to be silent and this makes the nursing homes and rehab centers worse than they should be.If you are a nurse or social worker or supervisor in a rehab or nursing home, you need to SPEAK OUT against the bad practices that are happening inside these places. With your help, society will be successful in changing things for the better. (If you are afraid to speak out because you might lose your job, speak out to us. We will keep your confidentiality, and through a unity, YOU can help save lives. You can help give better care.Complain to Agencies.About complaining: Do your complaining (to other agencies and departments regarding these issues) in writing. It’s tempting to get on the telephone and complain verbally because that is easy, however, only the true complaint prevails if you put things in writing. You put things in your own words-not in the words of the person taking the complaint.Be Knowledgeable and consider suing.Realize! Yes, realize what really happens once you initiate a complaint. First know whom you are speaking to if you complain by phone Know that most or some agencies are staffed by volunteers and even some are sympathetic to the corporations that you might be complaining about. (So consider suing if you have a good case). Complain to the agencies that issue licenses -whether the person you are complaining about is a doctor, nurse, home health aide, or social worker, complain to the proper parties. Ombudsman complaints are, well, okay, maybe, but sometimes even these ombudsmen are volunteers and sometimes you might get one who is not “impartial”. However, when you complain to a licensing agency, they must check into every allegation, so much more than an ombudsman can and or will. Thinking about suing? Well, half of the work is done for you if you have followed the proper steps and taken the proper records. Your journal can probably be used in court to help your case. (Only your lawyer would know this). Persist! Don’t let anything negative that the “red-tape builders” say to you; discourage you from being persistent in your honest reporting to the proper agencies and possibly lawyers also.YES, build yourself up; strengthen your position and protect your family members and patients and residents by using the best resources that are available to you both in print and online. We make some recommendations about helpful books and helpful resources tools that you might be able to locate online or in your home town. Why not check out Mark Green’s publications, such as THE CONSUMER BIBLE, or other consumer books by Mark Green.Never “threaten” to sue, just do itLocate a lawyer.Finally? Finally, if nothing else helps the case and you are still getting nowhere and the corporate and staff are still fibbing, fabricating, or withholding vital information, seriously considering suing the place. Yes, a lawsuit might be quite appropriate in some cases. In no matter what state you live in, there are usually competent lawyers who will take your case without taking any upfront money from you. (Check with friends and relatives who may have used lawyers or check the yellow pages).Search the net.Know the net. Be aware of how the net works and be aware of how advertisements pop up on the net and what they mean and what they stand for. For example, you are now reading an article about rehabilitation centers and nursing homes. So, the way the net works is this – you might look to the side there and see many advertisements for nursing homes or rehabilitation centers. KNOW that this does not mean that this article is about those and this does not mean that we recommend any of those places. The way the advertisements get there is purely random. Somewhere in the net, the words “rehabilitation center” and “lawyer” and “nursing home” are picked up by the net and the advertisements are almost automatically generated. So know that we have no affiliation or recommendation of any persons or companies that are mentioned on this web page or in this website. In fact, we have no way of knowing which or if any of these corporations will appear on the same web page that our article is on. So beware and do your own “checking” when it comes to businesses.Believe in yourself.Believe in yourself and in your own inner instinct. Know that most staff or personnel that are connected with the physical rehabilitation centers and nursing homes probably would advise you not to put anything in writing. Why? Once you put your complaint in writing, they actually have to DO something about it, instead of being able to ignore your complaint the way they might be able to ignore a verbal complaint. So by putting your complaint in writing you make them accountable; you make “more work” for them, and you protect yourself and your family member. So, if you want to protect yourself and your family members, it would seem that it makes sense to put things in writing. (After all, what’s more valuable, a verbal contract or a written contract? Correct!)Always stay connected.Connect! Yes, yes, yes, connect! Connection is a tool that has helped people throughout centuries throughout the world. You have seen evidence of this yourself. Don’t “unions” get more benefits for employees? Aren’t union members usually more protected than those that are non-union? Well, that’s the connection theory at work. The more people you have on your side, the better protection that you have. So, if you can be connected with others that have the same problem as you have, that is protection for you and protection for them. SO, connect! I f you are seeking connection with others who are complaining about rehabilitation centers and nursing homes write to us and we will do our best to put you in touch with others having the same problems. ALL through history the ones who are and were the most successful are those who enlist the help of others and the ones who have a group behind them. That is why or how many unscrupulous rehabilitation centers and nursing homes get the upper hand, because there is more “staff” than “you”. Once you join with others that are when you might begin to be successful in your journey towards truth, honesty, and integrity in rehabilitation centers and in nursing homes. Connect with us and join our worldwide project that will put the spotlight on nursing homes and physical rehabilitation and care centers across the world, and more specifically ones right in your own neighborhood. You can make this happen. Join us by emailing us with your facts, research, photos and your true story. Include a confidentiality statement with your work and you can be in consideration for joining our worldwide project.SKEPTICS? :Ahh, there are skeptics reading. Yes, we hear you. You are reading thinking that there are great nursing homes out there and there are wonderful people working there too. There are many giving wonderful and great service. YES! That statement is true, but in reality, the better truth is that there are probably MORE unscrupulous, offending, and damaging rehabilitation centers and nursing homes out there, throughout the country and throughout the world than there are good ones. If you doubt this statement, just do this, use the “Google” tool and set up Google alerts on your email account.Put the words nursing homes or nursing home in there. You will probably get HUNDREDS of emails -Google alerts – in your box daily, about the negligent and malpractice nursing homes and rehabilitation centers. You will get emails about staff committing crimes, staff being negligent and emails about people dying all over the country of unnecessary deaths. Just check out a few of those Google alerts and see what happens. Yes, Virginia, there are good nursing homes in the world, but this article is about the bad ones. That’s the difference. Our purpose in writing this article is to bring world attention to the deficiencies and the malpractices and the negligence’s and the crimes being committed inside of unscrupulous rehabilitation centers and nursing homes.REHABILITATION CENTERSWhy rehabilitation centers? You’ve asked why we use this term, and we have the answer for you here. For many, many years, there have been so many deficiencies in some nursing homes that the term “nursing home” leaves a bad taste in the world’s mouth. Lately, we have come to connect the word nursing home with something bad -due to all the bad publicity that has been in the news and on television. So, what’s the solution when a nursing home wants to advertise yet doesn’t want that bad connotation to its name? Well, name it something else. Most all nursing homes have always had a floor or two for “rehabilitation” for many years. But now, some have changed their names so as to exclude themselves from the ‘bad news’ that might generate from searches about “nursing homes’. So, throughout our country, and throughout the world, “rehabilitation centers” are popping up all over, trying to not be classified as “nursing homes’ in an effort to divorce them from any and all bad publicity. There actually are legal definitions of nursing homes and physical rehabilitation centers for the purpose of Medicaid and other agencies. The definitions have to do with how long people stay in a facility.For example, if a place names themselves a “rehabilitation center” instead of a nursing home, then when people Google “nursing homes” their place might not come up in the search -even if there is bad news about the place. So, don’t be fooled by name changes of places. (There is an actual legal clarification and definition between “nursing homes” and “rehabilitation centers” and you can find that online in one of the government sites). Google both names and read them all. These are terms you can Google to get news: “nursing homes, nursing home, rehabilitation center, rehabilitation and care centers, care centers, long-term care centers, aging, and things like that. But to begin with Google nursing homes and rehabilitation centers -two separate terms.THE GOOD ONES: Yes, we acknowledge there are many helpful, good and law-abiding nursing homes and rehabilitation centers. This article is about the opposite. This article is written about the bad ones, the unscrupulous ones and the ones that violate personal and civil rights of human beings.I f you are in a good one, we are happy for you. If you have a family member in a good one, we are happy for you, and we still ask you to JOIN US, yes join us, in stopping the corruption or the lack of care and non-care in the bad facilities. Join us and together , nursing home service will improve.WRITE TO US:(If you have a good comment about nursing homes and you do not understand this article, you are welcome to write to us also). We write, these articles regarding nursing homes and physical rehabilitation centers in an effort to band together with others who have been bound by red-tape, the run-around, and by unscrupulous nursing homes and physical rehabilitation care centers. We hope that you spread the word, and ask others to join us as soon as possible. TOGETHER, we can make progress; together we can be successful in making all nursing homes and all physical rehabilitation centers –better, and healthy for all of our people.Footnotes below this lineBy “dig their own hole deeper”, we mean that if staff has already been dishonest, once approached in writing, they probably will continue to lie or fabricate or ignore your requests. Either way, you go on record with all your communications. That is your protection against future fabrications by staff.This article, for the most part, is concerning dishonest staff at rehabilitation centers and nursing homes. When we advise “steps “, suggestions or advice, it is for the offending places and personnel. We do realize and recognize that there are “some” nursing homes that offer good service.When recording on answering machines, sometimes a “timed beep” is necessary; check with your local statutes or check with your lawyer for details. Do an online search for help in that area.If a licensed social worker or a licensed doctor has been unscrupulous or if they have been allegedly guilty of malpractice or negligence, you might want to consider seriously complaining to the licensing agencies about this. Pull up a good search engine on your computer and put in a search for “department of education licensing division” or “licensing agencies” . Keep searching until you find what you you are looking for.While there are some centers that do “just’ rehabilitation and or therapy, the places that we are speaking of are the centers that used to be nursing homes and those that have just changed their names to cover themselves up. The places we speak of are those that have nursing home ability or capacity -have people “living” there as permanent and temporary residentsWe strongly suggest putting your complaints into a type-written or computer-composed letter instead of verbally complaining to agencies.If you think you have good cases, go right to a lawyer and ask for the free consultation. MOST lawyers have free consultations. You can even have a free consultation on the phone sometimes. Check the net and yellow pages.Our Recommendations: If you would like our own recommendations (not a scientific study but our own personal recommendations). We can offer a list of homes and rehab centers that we approve of and offer a list of nursing homes and centers that we would never recommend. This list is only our opinion. But you are entitled to our opinion, so feel free to write to us. Contact us through the email section of this articles website. We do not work or volunteer in any nursing homes or rehab centers, but we have visited at great length in some and have shorter visits in others. A visitor’s opinions are valuable when choosing nursing homes and rehabilitation centers, so feel free to write to us.CLUE: People are under the mistaken impression that if a center is not on the LIST of worst nursing homes, then the center is good. WRONG! We have discovered that one of the worst nursing homes around is not on the LIST of the worst homes. They use illegal tactics, hide things and cover up their errors to stay off the “worst ” list. So far they have been able to do that. But now, consumers, residents and families are making their own LIST of worst nursing homes and rehabilitation and care centers. Wouldn’t you lik e to see the list that residents and families made?I know for a fact that there is at least ONE rehabilitation and care center that is one of the worst going, yet this place is not on the government’ s WORST list. So be careful when viewing the homes. Ask to see the ENTIRE home, all floors of the nursing home , before making a decision.Updated May 2008