Examples of Nursing Home Neglect
Relatives usually place their loved ones in a nursing home expecting that they will be cared for properly. In most instances this type of care is provided, but there are also times when nursing homes are understaffed, and the staff is not properly trained regarding what to do when things get out of hand. Some caregivers might inappropriately sedate patients, rather than care for them, and they may not get the appropriate grooming done. These behaviors may cost patients their lives.
Physical Abuse
Some of the most common types of physical neglect found in nursing homes are unnecessarily physically restraining the patient, repeatedly failing to provide food or water, giving either too much or not enough medication and forcing the patients to stay confined in their rooms. Many time patients have welts, bruises or cuts that caregivers cannot explain.
Physical Neglect
Caregivers in nursing homes will sometimes neglect patients by ignoring their daily living provisions, neglecting medical problems, or not taking measures to prevent bed sores, malnutrition, or dehydration. Sometimes neglect comes in the form of not assisting or providing appropriate personal hygiene and leaving living conditions unhygienic or dirty. This can cause the elderly to develop infections.
Verbal & Emotional Neglect
Some neglect is emotional and verbal and mainly done when no one else is around. The result of this is that the patient may seem very withdrawn and may even not communicate to the point of self-isolation. Patients may seem troubled or tense and might also display odd behavior such as rocking back and forth, biting others or even sucking the edge of a garment or their thumbs. They could also display their frustration in other ways. such as doing the opposite and becoming embarrassing, rude, scary or intimidating toward others.
Other signs of neglect
Other signs of nursing home abuse or negligence can occur with injuries that call for emergency treatment such as broken bones, occurrences of wandering--especially outside of the nursing home for longer periods of time--quick weight gain or loss with no explanation, heavy sedation, death that is either unexplained or unexpected, patients hurting each other, or repeated illnesses. Some signs of nursing home neglect are poor hygiene and a lack of grooming.
Prevention
Neglect is obviously more prominent in patients that are least likely to defend themselves. Patients that are neglected in nursing homes are often unaware that they are being neglected and many are afraid or unable to report it. Most cases of neglect are discovered by the patient's family when they engage in frequent visits. Both federal and state laws are in place to ensure a specific standard of care, but this is often abused. Neglect in nursing homes is not the norm but can happen especially when staff is undertrained or lacking.
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