Massena Rehab: Staff Call Residents "Feeders" - NY
Certified Nurse Aide #53 at Massena Rehabilitation & Nursing Center acknowledged during an interview on August 13 that calling residents "feeders" was unprofessional and something they should not do. The aide said they had received dignity and abuse training but were not specifically trained to avoid referring to residents by such dehumanizing labels.
The same aide admitted to regularly addressing residents as "honey" despite being trained not to use such pet names. They justified the practice by saying they felt it was welcoming to residents.
Licensed Practical Nurse #12 revealed even more troubling practices during their interview the same day. The nurse said staff should not call residents "honey or sweetie or labeled as a lift or a Hoyer" because it violated their dignity. A Hoyer is a mechanical lift used to transfer patients who cannot move independently.
"Residents should be addressed in the way their parents named them," the nurse told inspectors.
But the dehumanizing language was just part of the problem. The nurse admitted they knew they should sit down when feeding residents but said the chairs were locked up and staff did not have access to them. Standing while feeding residents, the nurse acknowledged, intimidated residents into eating.
The practice of standing over residents during meals appeared widespread. Certified Nurse Aide #51 told inspectors they stood when feeding Resident #48 because they did not know they were allowed to pull up a chair. The aide also said there was not a lot of room for chairs in the feeding areas.
The aide understood the proper protocol, telling inspectors that staff should sit next to residents when feeding them rather than standing over them. But the understanding did not translate into practice.
Federal regulations require nursing homes to maintain the dignity of each resident. The inspection found that Massena Rehabilitation & Nursing Center failed to meet this basic standard through both the language staff used to describe residents and their intimidating feeding practices.
The violations centered on dignity issues that strike at the core of how residents are treated in long-term care facilities. When staff refer to residents as "feeders" or "lifts," they reduce human beings to their care needs or the equipment required to assist them.
Licensed Practical Nurse #12's comment that residents should be called "the way their parents named them" highlighted how far the facility had strayed from basic respect. Using someone's actual name rather than a label based on their physical limitations or care requirements represents a fundamental aspect of human dignity.
The feeding practices created additional dignity violations. Standing over residents while they eat creates an inherently unequal power dynamic. The nurse's admission that this practice intimidated residents into eating suggested that staff understood the psychological impact of their positioning during meals.
The locked chairs presented a systemic barrier to proper care. If chairs needed for dignified feeding practices were routinely locked away from staff, it indicated an institutional failure rather than individual staff decisions.
Certified Nurse Aide #51's confusion about whether they were allowed to pull up a chair suggested inadequate training or unclear policies about basic feeding protocols. The aide's observation about limited room for chairs pointed to potential facility design issues that interfered with dignified care.
The inspection occurred following a complaint, indicating that someone observed these practices and felt compelled to report them to state authorities. The violations affected few residents according to the inspection report, but the staff interviews suggested the practices were routine rather than isolated incidents.
All three staff members interviewed demonstrated awareness that their practices violated dignity standards. Certified Nurse Aide #53 knew calling residents "feeders" was unprofessional. Licensed Practical Nurse #12 understood that standing while feeding intimidated residents. Certified Nurse Aide #51 recognized that staff should sit beside residents during meals.
This awareness made the continued violations more troubling. The staff were not acting out of ignorance but despite knowing better practices.
The facility's training programs appeared inadequate despite covering dignity and abuse topics. If staff received training on dignity but still regularly used dehumanizing language, the training failed to create lasting behavioral change.
The August inspection found these dignity violations represented minimal harm or potential for actual harm to residents. But the psychological impact of being labeled as a "feeder" or having staff loom over you during meals extends beyond physical injury.
For elderly residents who may already feel vulnerable and dependent, being reduced to feeding functions or care equipment needs strips away essential humanity. The intimidating feeding practices compounded this dehumanization by creating coercive meal conditions.
The violations occurred at a facility that serves one of New York's most rural communities. Massena sits near the Canadian border in St. Lawrence County, where families often have limited options for long-term care.
Residents and their families in such communities depend heavily on local nursing homes to provide not just medical care but basic human dignity. When staff routinely use dehumanizing language and intimidating practices, it betrays that fundamental trust.
The inspection report did not indicate whether the facility had implemented any changes to address the dignity violations. The locked chairs that prevented proper feeding positioning represented a particularly concrete problem that could be immediately addressed.
Staff training on appropriate language and feeding practices would need to go beyond the existing dignity and abuse programs that had failed to prevent these violations. The interviews suggested that staff understood the rules but chose not to follow them, indicating a need for stronger accountability measures.
The residents affected by these practices deserved to be called by their names and to eat their meals without staff standing over them in intimidating positions. These basic dignities should not require a federal inspection to secure.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Massena Rehabilitation & Nursing Center from 2025-08-15 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.
Additional Resources
Data source: Official federal inspection data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Editorial process: AI-synthesized regulatory data, reviewed for accuracy by our editorial team.
Professional review: All content reviewed by Christopher F. Nesbitt, Sr., NH EMT & BU-trained Paralegal.
Last verified: June 20, 2026 · Our methodology
MASSENA REHABILITATION & NURSING CENTER in MASSENA, NY was cited for violations during a health inspection on August 15, 2025.
The aide said they had received dignity and abuse training but were not specifically trained to avoid referring to residents by such dehumanizing labels.
Health inspections identify deficiencies that facilities must correct. Violations range from minor documentation issues to serious safety concerns. Review the full report below for specific details and facility response.