4 Signs of Nursing Home Negligence

If you have a loved one confined to a nursing home, you would like to think they are well taken care of. Hopefully, round-the-clock staffing and medical providers are meeting all of their needs. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. There are staff members in nursing homes that do not always provide top-notched care. Sometimes the care the fail to deliver rises to the level of negligence and can affect your loved one's mental and physical health. Exactly what does nursing home negligence look like? Here are a few signs to look for. 

1. Improper Staffing Ratios

Have you ever visited your loved one in the nursing home and either did not encounter a staff member while you were there or only saw one or two staff taking care of an entire unit of patients? Too often, improper staffing ratios create situations where the staff present cannot take care of the number of patients they are assigned.

By law, nursing homes in New Jersey require one Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) for every eight residents on the day shift. The evening shift requires one direct care staff per ten residents, and the night shift requires one direct care staff per 14 residents.

Unfortunately, many nursing homes are not meeting these criteria. Nursing homes have been habitually short-staffed and became even more so during the COVID-19 pandemic. In December 2020, 20.6 percent of nursing homes nationwide reported staffing shortages.

2. Improper Staff Training

Unfortunately, nursing homes have a hard time recruiting and retaining staff.

Because of frequent turnover, staff members are often not as well trained as needed to care for this fragile population. This lack of training can lead to the neglect of patients’ medical, social, emotional, hygiene, and other daily living needs.

Physical signs to look for include the following:

• Bedsores
• Dehydration 
• Lack of access to water 
• Hunger
• Malnutrition 
• Untreated medical conditions
• Medication reactions
• Hygiene issues
• Unexplained injuries
• Personality changes
• Isolation and loneliness

If you notice any of these issues, there may be evidence of nursing home negligence.

3. Poorly Maintained Facilities

When you look around the facility, you could see other potential signs of neglect at your loved one's nursing home. Overflowing trash cans, broken pavement, peeling paint, non-working toilets, and more can all be signs of a poorly maintained facility. This inattention to the facility's needs can lead to dangerous safety conditions for the residents, which also constitutes neglect.

4. Poor Basic Hygiene

A change in your loved one's basic hygiene can signal neglect. Obvious signs are dirty clothes, hair, and skin, but you may also notice body odor, bedsores, and other types of skin infections.

You may also notice increased bad breath, food remaining on their hands and face, signs of tooth decay, or missing teeth. Check to see if your loved one's fingernails and toenails are cleaned and trimmed regularly.

You may also hear residents complain about not having access to their false teeth or eyeglasses. Your loved one should be able to easily access personal items such as false teeth or eyeglasses.

If you believe that your loved one has been injured as a result of nursing home negligent, please contact our office.

Jarve Kaplan Granato Starr LLC can help you recover from any physical injuries and mental and physical neglect your loved one has experienced. Give us a call today for a free consultation of your case.