Top Five Nursing Home Neglect Injuries

Nursing home understaffing, a problem that affects over 90 percent of the long-term care facilities in SoCal, is the underlying cause of nursing home negligence, at least in many cases.

Most of us have worked at understaffed facilities and are familiar with the extreme stress these environments cause. Sometimes, nursing home workers vent their stress in an inappropriate way. Other times, understaffing forces nursing home administrators to cut corners in terms of human resources. For example, most experienced nurses don’t want to work in an understaffed nursing home. So, the facility hires licensed vocational nurses to handle responsibilities a registered nurse should attend to.

Both these scenarios involve negligence, or a lack of care. So, in these situations, a Carlsbad personal injury lawyer can obtain substantial compensation for victims.

Falls

Quite simply, understaffing causes falls. Many older people with dementia wander aimlessly (nursing home elopement). Sometimes, they wander into construction zones and other hazardous areas. Fully-staffed facilities station employees in these areas to gently redirect residents elsewhere. Understaffed facilities don’t offer such protection, even though the law requires it.

Also, older people are at risk for more severe fall injuries, usually because they have pre-existing medical conditions. Nursing home companies cannot use such conditions as an excuse to reduce or deny compensation. If anything, a Carlsbad personal injury lawyer can obtain additional damages in these cases. Vulnerable victims deserve special legal protection.

Bedsores

Many nursing home residents are too weak and/or too medicated to turn themselves over in bed and avoid bedsores. Turning an older person over in bed is usually a two or three person job. In an understaffed facility, two or three people may be unavailable.

Additionally, many nursing home workers, like patient care technicians, cannot spot early-stage bedsores and/or don’t know how serious these injuries are. As a result, early-stage bedsores are undetected and doctors don’t treat them until they become life-threatening.

Malnutrition

Supply usually isn’t a problem. Most nursing homes have plenty of nutritious food. The problem is that many residents don’t eat the food on their plates.

Our senses deteriorate when we get older. Food doesn’t look, taste, or smell good to an older person. Furthermore, many older people don’t feel hungry. As a result, they don’t eat. Understaffed facilities don’t station dieticians or other such professionals in cafeterias to ensure that residents eat the food on their plates.

Malnutrition could be a standalone injury. Malnutrition also reduces the body’s ability to fight infractions, such as bedsores (which were mentioned above) and infectious diseases (which are discussed below).

Resident-on-Resident Assaults

Emotionally, many older people are like young children. Petty disputes are common. Understaffed facilities don’t have people in common areas to break up these disputes before they become violent.

Additionally, as mentioned above, nursing home patients wander. Sometimes, they wander into another person’s room. Many people become greatly offended when that happens.

Infectious Disease

Assaults are an issue because older people are so frail that a tiny amount of force causes a serious injury. Infectious diseases are much the same way. A COVID outbreak in a high school often ends without serious illnesses, if officials contain it. A COVID outbreak in a nursing home usually has a much different ending.

Work With a Diligent San Diego County Lawyer

Injury victims are entitled to substantial compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer in Carlsbad, contact the Pursley Law Firm. We do not charge upfront legal fees in these matters.