The Most Common Types of Nursing Home Neglect Among the Elderly

In today’s culture, nursing home negligence is an unpleasant reality for many elderly men and women. In this article, we’ll look at the types of nursing home neglect and other pertinent factors you need to know. Let’s get straight to the point.

The Most Common Types of Elderly Neglect

⇒ Medical Neglect: Medical neglect is a prevalent form of negligence. It happens when a nursing home staff doesn’t meet the health care need of a resident. Examples of medical negligence include:

• Not administering medications at the right time
• Inadequate care for existing health conditions (dementia or diabetes)
• Failure to report signs of illness or infections to the doctor

⇒ Emotional Neglect: One of the benefits of nursing homes is that it gives seniors a chance to make new friends. As research has proven, this helps improve their mental health.

Unfortunately, some nursing home workers commit emotional neglect by preventing them from interacting with other people. The claims aren’t necessarily actionable, but can still be a sign of neglect. Examples of emotional neglect include:

• Fails to move or socialize seniors with severe mental or mobile issues
• Isolates vulnerable resident resulting in a lack of connection
• Staff members don’t provide a wheelchair, walkers, etc. for seniors with mobility issues

⇒ Neglect of Basic Needs: Nursing home neglect happens when the staff members do not provide the vital living functions promised by the facility including:

• Not giving a senior citizen a proper bath
• Giving unsafe water or food to a resident
• Not changing the clothing or undergarments of a senior resident
• Failure to change the clothing of seniors who soil themselves, etc

Causes of Nursing Home Neglect

Possible reasons have been identified as the source of nursing home neglect. Some of the reasons vary depending on individual circumstances but here are a few common ones:

1. Understaffing:
   In a bid to reduce costs, some nursing facilities do not hire enough people. This strains the staff members due to too much work and they cannot do their jobs effectively.
2. Lack of Background Check:
   Another possible cause of nursing home neglect is that employers do not carry out a thorough background check to know the personality of who they are employing. Staff members with past criminal records are more likely to neglect or maltreat residents.
3. Inadequate training:
   Nursing home staff members who do not undergo proper training may fall into the habit of neglect. They are more likely to mishandle frail residents, make mistakes with medications, and other errors that may lead to inadequate care.

Consequences of Nursing Home Negligence

Nursing home negligence greatly affects the general well-being of senior residents. Both their mental and physical health can be affected. Severe cases of neglect and maltreatment sometimes can even lead to death. Let’s take a look at some of the possible consequences of nursing home negligence.

How to Detect/Prevent Neglect

Most of the time, neglect is a result of insufficient staffing. However, there are steps that you can take to prevent and detect problems early enough before something tragic happens.

• Contact them Regularly. Make it a habit to frequently visit your loved ones in the nursing home. This will make it easy for you to detect neglect. With frequent visitation, you can see signs of poor care, such as malnutrition easily. If you can’t visit them regularly, keeping in touch over the phone or videoconferencing is also helpful.
• Listen to them. Please pay attention to what they say and never dismiss any complaint of neglect. Also, listening to them will encourage them to share with you any issues that might come up in the future
• Review the nursing home facilities carefully. Before choosing a nursing home, look out for signs of anything that might signify neglect. When it comes to higher-end nursing homes, remember that expensive doesn’t always equal quality care.

So check things out carefully and stay aware of:

• • Resident’s Hygiene
  • Unexplained injuries
  • Loss or Lack of Mobility
  • Signs of inadequate nutrition
  • Unsanitary living conditions etc

What to Do If You Discover Negligence

The first thing to do is to speak to the administrator of the facility. If you have spoken with the facility and there are no changes or you feel it’s a severe issue, then report the incident and seek legal redress.

At this point, many become discouraged due to inadequate knowledge of the legal process. This is a major reason to seek a skilled attorney with experience in nursing home neglect and abuse.

Many people assume that getting a nursing home lawyer will cost a fortune. Most law firms do not charge any money upfront and only get paid after you are compensated. Goodnow McKay has dealt with over a thousand cases, with a 99% win rate, however, should your lawsuit be lost, you will not be responsible for paying anything at all.

Call Goodnow McKay

Neglect in elderly care homes isn’t right or fair for any senior-aged family members or friends. As soon as nursing home negligence or abuse is discovered, the victims’ families should not hesitate to seek legal redress. Thanks to Goodnow McKay, the victim’s families don’t have to worry about experiencing a financial burden before receiving justice. Schedule a free consultation and move forward with your case to receive the settlement you deserve.