Newsletter Issue No. 09

Nursing Home Failures are not Always Apparent

Sometimes, problems in nursing homes are not always readily apparent.

How is it that so many nursing home failures occur without any red flags been waived? Often, the reason that family members do not notice instances in nursing home neglect is the fact that they do not trust their own instincts when something out of the ordinary occurs. People generally have a sixth sense when it comes to recognizing danger. This is just how the human mind is hardwired. From these little internal warning signs we can recognize something is out of place unless we are willfully blind to the situation.

Of course, some may wonder why the residents of the nursing homes do not inform their relatives of any problems. What needs to be understood is that many of the residents of nursing homes do not report abuse to their loved ones. Perhaps, they are scared of retaliation in the report abuse or they simply may not possess the state of mind to be able to articulate the nursing home failures that have been exposed to.

Because of this, it is critical that the relatives of those placed in a nursing home remain ever vigilant to notice potential abuse and neglect. This means you have to trust your instincts when you suspect serious nursing home failures.

What needs to be understood is that no matter how great the marketing campaign of a nursing home may be, there is always the potential for the nursing home to deliver far less than what it promised. Sadly, in instances of neglect a nursing home may even take steps to cover up their deficiencies. Again, this is why the relatives of the residents must always be on the lookout for something that seems out of place. Remember, if something does not look right it probably isn't. When the situation centers on something as serious as nursing home failures one should always get to the truth of the situation.

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Improper Discipline and Nursing Home Failures

Discipline in a nursing home must be enacted with extreme care.

There are a number of psychological impairments that can befall a person when they get older. For example, conditions such as Alzheimer's disease as well as senility can dramatically affect the mental capabilities of an elderly patient. As a result, their behavior can become erratic and difficult. This is why the residents of a nursing home must possess significant patience and skill in order to deal with those who are suffering from such complicated problems.

Thankfully, most nursing home staff understands this and handles such problems with extreme professionalism. However, there are those proverbial "bad apples" that overreact to the situation in a very negative manner.

Rather than provide the appropriate response to the situation, the staff members will commit the grossest of all nursing home failures: They will unfairly discipline the resident. In some instances, this discipline comes in the reform of excessive physical restraints for extended periods of time or even outright physical abuse. Such actions are completely intolerable. Regardless of the mental state of the patient, the resident must be treated with dignity and respect. Most of all, the response to their actions must be accordance with acceptable standards of professionalism. If not, then great harm could befall the resident and this would be the worst of all nursing home failures.

Of course, such gross actions have their penalties. One of the most common means of addressing such egregious behavior comes in the form of a nursing home abuse lawsuit. When a nursing home viciously disciplines a resident then it is being neglectful. Needless to say, this would not look good in a civil suit and probably would lead to significant damage is being awarded.

Elderly Abuse and Proper Feeding

When a nursing home is improperly feeding its residents, it is being grossly negligent.

Elderly abuse takes many forms and many times this abuse involving mistreatment of elderly people who are under the care of a provider. In most instances, the provider is the nursing home designed to safeguard the health and welfare of the person in their charge that causes the abuse. However, it is important to point out that elderly abuse does not always mean physical violence.

In many instances, nursing home abuse comes in the form of neglect and neglect itself can also take many forms. In fact, there are a number of ways elderly abuse can occur that most people would not think of and this includes providing proper meals.

One of the most sickening samples of elderly abuse as it relates to feeding would be purposely withholding food as a punishment for behavior. This is incredibly irresponsible behavior and it is no surprise that many elderly residents can become very sick as a result.

Yet, there will be those whose sole duties are to take care of these elderly residents. They will falter in this regard by taking extreme risks such as withholding food as a way of correcting behavior. This is seriously cruel behavior and no elderly resident should ever be subjected to it.

Also, it is important to note that purposefully withholding food is not the only means of committing elderly abuse. Oversights in terms of providing food irregular intervals or providing the right food can also be considered forms of elderly abuse. For example, an elderly resident with a heart condition should not eat foods high in cholesterol. However, the nursing home may provide such foods simply by not paying attention to the strict diet requirements of the resident. This would be considered very negligent behavior and a strong case for elderly abuse can be presented if the person gets sick.