Whenever someone sends a loved one to a nursing home, they expect the staff to treat them with the care, respect, and dignity that their own family would. In many cases, that is exactly what happens, but there are some facilities where the care that residents receive is very much substandard. There are many different nursing home facilities but the ways that they fail their residents are usually similar to each other. That means whenever poor care in nursing homes is uncovered, there are always some common complaints no matter where in the country that nursing home was located.
The elderly deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, and if a nursing home does not provide that standard of care, then the families of the neglected resident should take legal action against that facility. Anyone who discovers that a loved one has received neglectful or abusive treatment at the hands of the staff of a nursing home should contact a nursing home abuse lawyer to help them. The lawyer will hold the nursing home accountable by recovering compensation from them to cover the losses suffered by the resident and to make sure that they do not repeat that behaviour with any other resident in the future. So if you found out that a loved one was the target of abuse or neglect, be sure to contact a nursing home abuse attorney as soon as possible.
Staffing Problems
A lot of the problems residents experience in nursing homes can be traced back to the staff. Namely that some nursing homes are chronically understaffed and the staff that are present are undertrained. These two staffing issues can create a whole host of problems. There might not be enough staff members to provide services to all of the residents, which means that some of them get neglected. If the limited number of staff members try to serve all of the residents, then that could mean that they do not have adequate time to provide the full service that the residents require.
Poorly trained staff are also a problem because they could end up causing problems for the residents instead of fixing them. If a resident needs to be administered medication, then a poorly trained staff member could end up giving them the wrong medication, or the correct medication in the wrong dosage. Some residents might need assistance with their movement and undertrained staff might not be able to provide the correct kind of assistance, which could end up injuring the resident. In some cases a poorly trained staff member might lose patience with a resident and that impatience could eventually become abuse as they take their frustrations out on the residents.
Loneliness
Even though a nursing home resident is surrounded by many other residents, they can still end up feeling lonely and alone, which is a common complaint from nursing home residents. Loneliness might not seem like a huge issue, but it can end up affecting a person’s health, especially if the loneliness leads to feelings of depression and isolation. That is because residents might feel isolated from the other residents or from the staff.
This problem can also be caused by undertrained staff members who do not prioritize the mental health of the residents. Nursing home residents should be encouraged to make friends with some of the other residents as well as with the staff members. Likewise, staff members should try to forge a connection with some of the residents because that could help their mental health, which is also good for their physical health as well.
Poor Food Options
Complaints about food are among the most common complaints in nursing homes. Those complaints are usually about both the quality of the food and the variety of the food. The meals in nursing homes should be healthy, nutritious, and tasty. Of course, opinions will vary on what tastes good or not, but the nursing home should try to cater to as many residents as possible. The nursing home should regularly change their food offerings so that the residents do not get bored of their meals. The reason is that they could end up eating less of their food if there is not enough variety, which could lead to malnourishment and other health problems.
That is also why the food should be healthy as well. Seniors need healthy food options to stay fit and they could fall into ill health if they do not receive meals that contain the nutrients that they need. Ultimately, it is up to the nursing home to provide delicious meals that are also healthy, and to provide variety in those meals to prevent the residents from getting tired of the meal options available. If they do not provide a good variety of healthy meals, then some of the residents could end up malnourished.
Contact an Attorney If Your Loved One Has Made Complaints About Their Nursing Home
When a nursing home fails to provide adequate service to its residents, they should be held accountable. There are some nursing home complaints that the nursing home is not necessarily responsible for, such as feelings of loneliness, nevertheless, the nursing home can take steps to address that problem. However, the nursing home is definitely responsible for their staff and the food that is provided to their residents. If a nursing home persistently receives complaints but fails to properly address them, then they need to be held accountable.
In order to hold a nursing home accountable, the family of the resident who is making those complaints should contact a nursing home attorney to help them. The lawyer can help to get compensation from the nursing home to take care of the losses suffered by the resident. Additionally, the attorney will do all they can to make sure that the nursing home cleans up its act so that no other resident has to suffer from neglect or abuse. So if a loved one was injured because of neglect or abuse, you should notify the Illinois Department of Public Health’s Nursing Home Complaint Hotline at 1 800 252 4343, and then contact the Rooth Law Firm.
The Editorial Team at Healthcare Business Today is made up of skilled healthcare writers and experts, led by our managing editor, Daniel Casciato, who has over 25 years of experience in healthcare writing. Since 1998, we have produced compelling and informative content for numerous publications, establishing ourselves as a trusted resource for health and wellness information. We offer readers access to fresh health, medicine, science, and technology developments and the latest in patient news, emphasizing how these developments affect our lives.
