Nursing Home Abuse and Negligence​

While nursing homes and other care facilities are paid to provide the care our loved ones need, they don’t always meet the necessary standards. Nursing home abuse is more common than many realize. Around 1 in 6 people who are 60 years or older suffer some form of abuse from a community facility every year. In addition to physical/sexual abuse, nursing home negligence can result in bedsores, pressure ulcers, burns, malnutrition/dehydration, falls, wandering, mismanaged medications, and more. 

Any type of negligence or abuse can have serious effects on the person who is being cared for and may even result in their death. If you have a loved one who is under the care of a nursing home or other facility, it’s important to watch out for potential signs of abuse.  

Physical/Sexual Abuse 

Residents in nursing homes are especially vulnerable to physical and sexual abuse by staff members and other residents, among other people.  That abuse can take the form of beatings, biting, food and water deprivation, excessive or inappropriate use of restraints, and over-medication to achieve a desired outcome.  

While some forms of abuse are obvious, such as cuts and broken bones, other forms may not be as obvious. Make sure to keep in contact with your loved one and ask how they’re being treated. Look for signs of pain or injury when visiting them as well. 

Bedsores and Pressure Ulcers 

Bedsores and pressure ulcers are often used interchangeably to describe wounds that can form on a particular part of the body subjected to prolonged pressure or lack of care.  For instance, a nursing home resident who is bound to a bed or wheelchair may not be cared for as often as he or she should be.  

This can result in wounds and sores that are often exacerbated by excess moisture or friction from other means.  Not only are these wounds unsightly and painful, but they can lead to death.  

While wounds like these can be common in the nursing home setting, they are treatable and preventable. 

Burns 

Burns can occur in the nursing home setting and may very well be due to negligence. A physically-disabled resident may be left unattended near a hot surface, or a resident may be bathed in water that’s dangerously hot. Whatever the cause, burns result in ongoing pain and discomfort for the victim. 

Choking 

Many nursing home residents experience difficulty swallowing for a variety of reasons.  Thus, eating, drinking, and taking medication can prove problematic and leave those residents at high risk of choking.  Choking can lead to reduced oxygen traveling to brain and can cause brain damage and even death.  In the nursing home context, this type of injury can very well be the result of neglect or inadequate monitoring. 

Malnutrition/Dehydration 

Malnutrition and dehydration occurs when a nursing home does not provide its residents with a proper diet and regular liquids to replenish them.  Both conditions make residents more susceptible to pressure ulcers, infection, falls, complications with medication, and even death.  Nursing homes should monitor every resident’s intake of food and fluid.   

Ventilator Blocking 

Nursing home staff relies on breathing tubes regularly to open some residents’ airways and increase the flow of oxygen to their bodies.  Ventilators are used to regulate that oxygen flow.  When a doctor, nurse, or other staff member inserts those tubes improperly or fails to monitor the tubes and/or ventilators, residents become exposed to an increased potential for choking and suffocation.  Tubes can become clogged when food, medication, or saliva blocks the airway and is not properly cleared whether due to lack of training, understaffing, or failed monitoring. 

Wandering and Lack of Oversite 

Nursing homes are required to regularly assess and monitor their residents for the potential to wander from their rooms, wheelchairs, or walkers.  When that level of care is not met, a resident can sustain serious injury and even die as a result.  Nursing home staff may fail to consistently monitor exterior doors that are supposed to remain closed and locked, to move residents at high risk of wandering closer to nursing stations for more consistent monitoring, and to use alarms and even restraints on residents’ bed.     

Mismanaged Medication  

Mismanaged or over-medication can often combine with several other of the forms of neglect described above to cause serious physical injury and even death.  An overworked staff with lax supervision or training can administer the wrong dosage of medicine or even the wrong prescription entirely.  Those mistakes are widely under-reported but can mean all the difference for the well-being and life of your loved one.