Why do Nursing Homes Neglect Their Residents?

Nursing Home Neglect

Nursing home neglect is something that can cause a great deal of pain and suffering to the nursing home resident as well as to the family of that resident. Nursing home neglect occurs when a nursing home is not meeting the needs they are supposed to be providing to their residents. Whether this be a failure of medicine administering, ignoring the resident blatantly or failing to fulfil other duties, there is no doubt that this is something that should not occur. It’s crucial to understand that when you or your loved one have been neglected that you can seek out guidance and legal counsel. This unfortunate occurrence does happen to some individuals. 

Why Neglect Occurs

Neglect happens when there is a lack of staff, high turnover rate, improper training or lack of care. At the end of the day, everyone is human and so are the staff at a nursing home. While most of them are probably very empathetic people who enjoy helping others, this doesn’t mean that that is always the case. Also, an inadequate amount of staff cannot serve a large nursing home population and an adequate number of staff that are improperly trained also cannot serve a nursing home properly. These are issues that can form at a nursing home and that is when neglect begins to transpire. 

Improper or lack of training could mean that medicines are not being distributed correctly, diets are not in line with standards and maybe there are not enough staff to serve residents to an acceptable level. Standards must be in place at a nursing home and they must be followed. When the standards in place are not enforced or there is a lack of standards, this can lead to neglect. 

What can be Done to Stop Neglect?

Keeping a direct line of communication with your loved one at the nursing home is crucial. Speaking with them regularly ensures that they are letting you know everything you need to know about what’s going on. Always listen to what they have to say and if they have concerns with the level of care or some questionable things that may not sound up to standards or even illegal, write them down. Legal counsel could be needed if the nursing home has failed to administer a proper level of care for your loved one. If you are looking for a nursing home neglect lawyer in NJ, then lawyers from a firm like Davis & Brusca, LLC may be able to be of assistance to you.