Nursing home neglect is a serious problem in nursing homes across the United States today. In fact, 95% of the elderly residents have reported being neglected in just the last year.
What is Nursing Home Neglect
Nursing home neglect is basically a failure on the part of the nursing staff to provide proper care, which results in harm being caused to the resident. Many a time, this is a direct result of staff members at the nursing home being overworked or just not trained enough to handle the needs of the senior residents.
Unfortunately, whatever the reason, failure to provide appropriate care to the elderly person can be risky, especially if that resident has serious health issues.
And considering the fact that the majority of the resident does have some serious health issues, any form of neglect will hurt them.
Types of Neglect
While there are many different forms of neglect, the four most common ones are:
– Neglecting Basic Needs: Basic needs include nutritious food according to the resident’s health requirements, adequate amounts of water and other beverages, and a clean, hygienic and safe environment. When a nursing home does not provide its elderly residents these basic necessities, it is considered neglect.
– Medical Neglect: The nursing is also required to attend to its residents’ medical issues. This means ensuring their medication is given regularly and on time, that other issues such as bedsores, infections, lacerations or mobility issues are also taken care of. Ignoring or not providing this kind of care is called medical neglect.
– Neglecting Personal Hygiene: Most of the seniors who live in nursing homes are unable to take care of themselves. Therefore, it is a part of the staff’s duty to ensure that the residents’ personal hygiene is also taken care of, which includes providing assistance with bathing, cleaning up, brushing teeth, and so on. This also includes ensuring that their laundry is cleaned and that the elderly have clean clothes to wear. Not taking care of their personal hygiene is also a form of elderly neglect.
– Emotional and Social Neglect: The reason why a nursing home staff’s job is so stressful is that they not only have to take care of the residents’ medical and physical needs but also their emotional and social needs. Ignoring an elderly resident or shouting at them is also the neglect of their duty.
Signs that a Nursing Home is Guilty of Neglect
Here are some of the signs you should look out for if you feel your loved one is being neglected by the nursing home in which he or she is a resident.
– If your loved one has bedsores or suffers from frequent infections.
– If your loved one shows signs of sudden weight loss, especially if he or she is unable to feed themselves.
– Injuries caused by falls.
– Dehydration.
– A change in your loved one’s normal behavior.
– A lack of positive interaction with the nursing staff.
– Personal hygiene seems to have become less.
– If the nursing home has clear hazards for the elderly, such as slippery floors, unsafe walkers and wheelchairs, poor lighting, and furniture that is not safe for seniors.
These are just some of the signs that you may be able to pick up on. The problem is that many of the other signs are really subtle, and there may be no physical evidence of neglect at all.
Therefore, ensure that when you visit your loved one at their nursing home, you scan them and their environment carefully to ensure that they are being treated with the love and respect they deserve.
