When you make the difficult decision to send a loved one to a nursing home, you expect the facility to provide them with the care and respect they deserve during their sunset years. Unfortunately, this does not happen always.
Negligence in nursing homes is all too common in the U.S. If a loved one is a victim of nursing home negligence, you need to hold the facility accountable. But what exactly is nursing home negligence, and how does it happen?
Understanding nursing home negligence
Nursing home negligence happens when the facility or its caregivers fail to attend to the resident’s basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter, hygiene, water and essential medical care. Nursing home negligence can result in injuries, infections and – in worst-case scenarios – preventable deaths.
Whether the negligence is intentional or not, the consequences will be devastating to the victim’s survivors. Here are three main causes of nursing negligence:
Understaffing
When the facility does not have enough caregivers to provide proper care to the residents, this can negatively affect the overall quality of service. The more caregivers are overworked, the more likely they will make costly mistakes like failing to give residents the right medications, ensuring proper hygiene or providing proper feeding to the residents.
Poor hiring methods
It is not uncommon for a nursing home to hire new staff without first conducting a background check on them. Caregivers who have a history of abuse in their previous stations are likely to carry on with the practice in their new role.
Inadequate training
Even if the staff passes a background check during the recruitment process, they may still commit negligent acts if they do not receive proper training. It is important that the nursing home provide routine refresher training to workers who are in direct contact with the residents.
Don’t let nursing home abuse continue. Find out how you can pursue justice if a loved one is neglected at the nursing home.
