24/7 - FREE CONSULTATION: (617)-698-6000
It is always a tough situation when a loved one must transition to a nursing home. As a relative, you no doubt research nursing homes in your area in order to find the most suitable living environment, with the assurance that your loved one’s needs will be met and that they will be well taken care of.
However, quite often those living in a nursing home face abuse and neglect. When such circumstances occur to someone you love, you feel a great deal of anger. While you may not be able to reverse the damage that has been done, be it physical or mental, but legal action can ensure that you and your loved one receive just compensation, as well as assurance that those responsible for the negligence are held responsible.
You can also hopefully avoid any such negligent behavior by choosing a nursing home that is adequately staffed. While there may be a variety of reasons staff members elect to neglect the patients in their care, it is understaffing itself that more often than not directly contributes to nursing home negligence.
There are many reasons while a nursing home may experience staffing issues and a general shortage of competent staff. For starters, there is a shortage of healthcare workers and nurse practitioners in the United States, with a great need to fill thousands of future positions in nursing homes and healthcare facilities.
The growth of nursing homes across the United States has created many positions that just aren’t being filled quickly enough. A new nursing home may appear clean, efficient and appealing, but you should also be sure that it is fully staffed before choosing to administer a loved one there.
A nursing home may also be understaffed if its employees aren’t paid fairly. Low wages can lead to a high turnover rate (not to mention the fact that it doesn’t give workers a great incentive to perform their job well). A high turnover rate also means new staff must be trained, which essentially means the staff that is unfamiliar with your loved one’s particular needs and daily routine. Low pay could also result in not too many applicants accepting a position, as they may seek a position elsewhere for higher pay.
When visiting nursing homes for consideration, ask some of the staff how long they have been there, if they enjoy working there and if much of the staff has been there very long. If they answer honestly, you can get a good idea of how well the place may be staffed and if the staff is happy there.
A nursing home may also expect too much of its staff. A staff member who must handle multiple responsibilities that are better served by additional staff members is unlikely to have the time to sufficiently see to the need of his or her patients.
And finally, nursing home management may simply refuse to hire the proper amount of staff in order to keep profits high.
As you might have now realized (or even experienced already with a loved one currently in a nursing home), understaffing can cause serious problems in a nursing home, especially patient neglect. Such neglect isn’t always intentional — as mentioned above, staff members can often be overwhelmed with many responsibilities and daily tasks, making it hard to give their patients the time and care they require.
Additionally, staff that isn’t treated properly by management or paid poorly can become disgruntled. As employee morale suffers, so too does their work ethic, and the overall work dynamic can lead to instances of abuse or neglect.
With many patients dependent upon nursing home staff for a large amount of care, neglect can lead to physical injury, psychological trauma and even death. Patients that are suffering from limited mobility are dependent upon their caregivers to help them move in order to avoid maladies such as atrophy or bedsores.
Additionally, receiving medication and food at the proper times, being provided with regular bathing and grooming, and help with going to the bathroom are all basic needs that can be overlooked or neglected due to understaffing.
Nursing homes have a legal obligation to provide proper care for the patients within their walls. Failure to do so can often result in strict fines, and rampant episodes of neglect and abuse have served to shut down many nursing homes. Additionally, nursing homes have been sued for wrongful death and/or illness of patients in their care that suffered due to neglect.
With understaffing being recognized as one of the leading causes of abuse and neglect in nursing homes, it is being viewed more and more like a crime. Staffing violations should be reported so as to ensure that no patient suffers needlessly.
If you or a loved one has experienced abuse or neglect in a nursing home, contact the law office of Colucci, Colucci & Marcus, P.C.. Our personal injury attorneys can help you take the necessary steps to receive just compensation and/or justice in cases relating to nursing home understaffing and neglect. You may call us at 617-917-3917, or you can also contact us online to set up your free initial consultation.
