Caring for nursing home patients is hard work! Caregivers must be dedicated to invest the necessary time and effort to assure the medical, personal and psychological needs of their patients are met. When caregivers fail to provide necessary care, the patient begins to suffer. Compared with an affirmative act in nursing home abuse or nursing home negligence cases, nursing home neglect truly implies that some one is not doing their job.
Nursing home neglect is a general term that encompasses many different situations that commonly result in patient injury or even death.
Chronic Nursing Home Neglect: refers to an ongoing situation where the staff fails to provide care to patients over an extended period of time– days, weeks, months — even years. Situations involving chronic neglect are reflective of a systematic problem at the facility, where shift-after-shift of nursing home employees fails to provide necessary care to patients in need.
- Bed Sores – Failure to keep patient clean, change soiled linens after an episode of incontinence, and re-position patients on a regular internals may contribute to the development of bed sores (similarly referred to as: pressure sores, pressure ulcers or decubitus ulcers).
- Dehydration – An inability to perceive thirst or anxiety over going to the toilet are some of the common factors that contribute to dehydration of nursing home patients. Staff must keep track of patients fluid intake and output.
- Malnutrition – We all know food is a basic requirement to keep our bodies functioning properly. Yet, when inappropriate foods (solid foods given to an are given to patients who can not eat them) or no staff assistance is provided to patients who are unable to feed themselves serious health problems may develop.
Acute Nursing Home Neglect: refers to more isolated situations where a staff members carelessness or ignorance result in harm to the patient. Many of acute neglect events result in severe injuries to patients who are the most dependent on caregivers or unable to perceive of harm themselves. Acute injuries involving nursing home neglect may include:
- Falls
- Choking
- Burns
- Unsanitary living conditions
- Failing to administer medication
- Untreated health problems
- Failing to supervise patients
- Wandering
Nursing Home Liability for Neglect of Patients
It is not necessary to distinguish the type of neglect nor establish actual intent on the part of the facility to pursue a cause of action premised on neglect. Rather, if your loved one suffered an injury due to inaction on the part of a caretaker, you may be entitled to pursue a claim for the resulting damages.
Related Materials From Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers:
The family of a deceased woman has filed a lawsuit against a large health care company that was responsible for maintaining her health. The lawsuit names Addus Healthcare as a defendant in two count complaint alleging that the companies negligence during a short-term stay, resulted in numerous medical complications that contributed to the patients death. Amongst the complications alleged include:
- Failing to treat the patients decubitus ulcers
- A urinary tract infection
- Sepsis
- Medical complications that went unannounced to physicians
The family of a 97-year-old nursing home patient has received $3.5 million under the terms of a settlement related to a wrongful death lawsuit. The lawsuit stems from neglectful care at Everett Rehabilitation and Care Center over the course of several months in 2007 when staff at the facility failed to provide medical treatment to a man– whose penis literally deteriorated to the point that his genitalia was nothing more than a wound.
According to documents related to an investigation by the Washington Department of Health, the man was originally admitted to the facility in 2004 in order to spend time with his wife who was already a patient at the facility. In November, 2007 a nurse documented a sore on the man’s penis and gave the report to a manager at the facility who failed to take any action or provide any further care….
I had to do a re-read of a recent article appearing in the Tennessean.com regarding the prevalence of elder abuse– or perhaps more accurately the prevalence of un-reported elder abuse in Tennessee. The article cites a report from The Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability that estimate just 1 out of 23 cases of elder abuse get reported to authorities.
While there may be a number of reasons why elder abuse goes unreported, a primary reason the article points to is the fact that most elder abuse is perpetrated by caregivers who control the individuals access to the outside world– and hence their ability to report the abusive situation to authorities and/or allow others to notice the abuse and report it to authorities….
Occasionally I receive emails and comments from blog readers asking what ‘really’ constitutes nursing home neglect. Its easy to point to definitions, but the best explanations usually come by way of example.
Yesterday, I was reviewing the chart of a 70-year-old lady who resident who died in a Chicago nursing home. The lady who died from complications following a severe burn on her leg due to contact with a wall-mounted radiator….
Just five weeks after her initial admission, the woman was transferred to a hospital emergency room where she diagnosed as having septic shock. Less than 24-hours after her hospital admission she died from resulting complications.
Specifically, the investigation determined that the nursing home failed to: monitor the woman for developing a urinary tract infection, monitor the patient for dehydration, provide necessary fluids….
Authorities are now investigating the smoking-related death of a 62-year-old man at a Chicago nursing home. The man identified as, Lawrence Lewis, suffered first and second degree burns to more than 20% of his body after his clothes caught fire while lighting a cigarette in an outdoor smoking area. After struggling with another patient to extinguish the fire, a third person at the nursing home used a fire extinguisher to put out any remaining flames….
Resource:
Nursing Homes Abuse Blog: Neglect
Related Publications
About Jonathan Rosenfeld
Jonathan Rosenfeld is a lawyer who represents people injured in nursing homes and long-term care facilities. Jonathan has represented victims of nursing home abuse and neglect throughout Illinois and across the country. Jonathan’s reputation as an aggressive advocate for the…