Nursing Home Negligence Is on the Rise

When you placed your loved one in a nursing home, you probably did so because you felt it was the safest place. If you are like most people, you probably did some research, visited numerous nursing homes and made the best decision you could. However, nursing home negligence is on the rise, so here’s what you need to know to keep your loved one safe.

Nursing home negligence occurs when the nursing home fails to fulfill its caretaking obligations. To prove a case of negligence, you must show that the nursing home had a duty to exercise care, it failed to do so, this failure was the cause of your loved one’s injuries, and your loved one was injured as a result.

The nursing home staff has a responsibility to provide the supervision and assistance necessary to prevent injury. Nursing homes likewise have the duty to provide training and proper staffing to ensure that their residents don’t injure themselves.

In a nursing home, negligence on the part of the staff can result in slip and falls, malnutrition, bedsores, lost residents, and many other injuries or maladies. It comes as no surprise that elderly persons are especially frail, and injuries such as fractures can be extremely difficult to recover from and can sometimes even lead to death.

Here is a list of some of the most common causes of negligence in nursing homes:

• Inattentive staff
• Undertrained staff
• Understaffed nursing home
• Slippery floors
• Unsafe or defective premises or furnishings
• Unlocked bed rails or wheels
• Improper placement of bedside equipment

If a nursing home fails to use the reasonable care required of it, and that failure results in injury to your loved one, you have grounds to file a lawsuit. If you suspect your loved one is not being supervised properly or the staff is otherwise not exercising proper care, you should document each and every occurrence and contact an experienced and compassionate Pennsylvania personal injury law firm to learn your options.