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Quality care for your elderly loved one depends on adequate staffing. Nursing home abuse can be intentional or unintentional acts.
However, intent does not mitigate the victim’s suffering. Understaffing is a significant factor in cases of elder abuse. When living facilities fail to keep adequate staff, their residents suffer the consequences.
Nursing home staff shortages increase the risk of mistreatment of your loved one. Understaffing can lead to fewer properly trained caregivers. It can also increase the risk that nursing assistants and staff lash out toward your loved one in abuse.
If you believe a family member has suffered nursing home abuse or neglect, call the DC nursing home abuse attorneys at Regan Zambri Long for a free consultation.
Certified nursing assistants and other staff need to balance work and life. However, some long-term care facilities do not want to pay fair wages or hire enough staff, and staff members do not always get sufficient training.
Low wages are a leading cause of employee turnover. When employees are underpaid compared to their responsibilities, many seek a new job. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that nursing assistants are paid an average of $19 an hour. With comparable wages available at less stressful jobs, many nursing aids seek employment elsewhere.
Many nursing home owners operate their facilities for profit. By focusing on profits, these facilities often hire less staff and provide worse nursing home care.
When healthcare facilities intentionally create a staffing shortage, it burdens the existing nursing staff and can cause employees to vent anger and frustration at nursing home residents. In other cases, abuse and negligence occur because the staff cannot provide necessary care and attention to every resident.
Training is another significant factor in nursing home abuse. Staffing shortages often mean new hires cannot be trained before taking on responsibility. While they may be paired with another employee for a few shifts to learn the ropes, many may be expected to perform tasks independently before they are fully competent.
Staff shortages in nursing homes are also impacted by changes in the population’s age demographics. As experienced nurses retire, fewer people are stepping into the field. As more of the population ages and requires care, the nursing shortage affects the nurse-to-patient ratio in nursing homes.
Care facilities with inadequate staffing are a danger to all nursing home residents. Staff is responsible for the well-being of your loved one. A shortage jeopardizes that well-being. While much nursing home neglect and abuse is unintentional, the effect on your loved one is undeniable.
Many facilities have residents who need varying levels of supervision and care. Elderly residents who need the most attention may monopolize staff, leaving those with a little more capability to fend for themselves. This can often lead to injury. Lack of supervision and attention puts residents at risk for:
Unfortunately, nursing staff may take their frustrations out on their residents. Rough handling, snapping at patients, or hitting is inexcusable. However, many employees would never act in such a way if the care facility focused on care over profits.
Some nursing home staff may engage in emotional abuse of their patients, which could be in the form of cruel teasing, scaring their patients, or emotional manipulation.
Elderly patients may suffer physical abuse or neglect from not receiving attention. Staff may even hit or pinch their residents in anger and frustration.
Verbal abuse may be the most common in care facilities. Staff may think it doesn’t matter what they say to their elderly patients, especially if the patient has dementia, Alzheimer’s, or another condition that affects their mental faculties. However, even if a patient cannot understand they are being abused verbally, they are still deserving of respect.
High turnover rates disrupt patient care even when a facility can maintain adequate staffing. Patients are people first, with preferences and personalities. When faced with a new nurse regularly, patients may struggle to thrive. In addition, the particulars of their care may slip through the cracks as nursing home staff struggle to keep up with the influx of information.
Understaffing in nursing homes can lead to employee burnout, which leads to mistakes. Nursing home workers who are burned out are more likely to make medication errors. Poor hygiene may lead to injuries for residents, and errors in taking vital signs may let complications go unnoticed.
The effects of understaffing are indisputable. Nursing home residents are entitled to high-quality care. When staffing levels do not allow the level of care to be met, nursing facilities must be held accountable. When quality of care issues continue unchecked, residents can suffer injuries or even wrongful death.
The first line of defense against nursing home abuse is your regular presence, checking in on your loved one to ensure that care for residents is a top priority at the nursing home facility. Visiting your loved one will allow you to recognize understaffing, poor resident care, and any outright abuse.
If your family member has suffered any abuse in their care facility, you need to contact the nursing home abuse lawyers at Regan Zambri Long right away. Our legal team will investigate your case and explain your legal options. Your loved one deserves a nursing home environment that enhances their quality of life.
The lack of staff is a serious issue for the long-term care industry. If legal action is necessary, we will ensure justice is served.
Schedule a free consultation with Regan Zambri Long’s nursing home abuse lawyers today by calling 202-960-4596.
