When it’s hot, people need more water to stay hydrated. And the need for hydration is more important for older, elderly people in nursing homes.
Consider this scenario: you have a loved one, an elderly senior, living in a nursing home in Jacksonville. What would happen to your loved one if water and nourishment were not given as needed? That situation could deteriorate, and the elderly senior could start to become nauseous or start having fainting spells. Without food and water in the proper amounts, the threat of dehydration and malnourishment can become very debilitating to an older senior.
If you believe that your elderly nursing home resident is being neglected with basic needs like food and water in the nursing home, it’s time to act. Contact the nursing home’s administrative staff immediately. If you do not get the right attention or proper satisfaction as to the cause of the neglect, then it may be time to look at legal options in the matter.
Your Jacksonville dehydration lawyer can give you the legal support you need in a case of neglect against a nursing home. Contact one of our legal representatives at Pintas & Mullins Law Firm. Our number for your free consultation is (800) 842-6336.
Understanding Dehydration
Dehydration happens when a person loses more water and fluids in the body than it gains in the body. Even low levels of dehydration can cause a number of poor physical and mental conditions.
Most healthy people can withstand a small decrease of 3%-4% in total body water without much change in body responses. But once that level moves up to a 5%-8% decrease in total body water, dizziness and fatigue could set in. As the numbers get higher, more physical pains come into play.
Losing more than 10% of total body water can cause mental and physical deterioration, and the body feels an overwhelming thirst. Older senior nursing home residents may die if their total body water levels go much higher than this.
Neglect at Nursing Homes
Americans have looked to nursing homes as a place of extreme care for the elderly seniors living within. There is a duty of care that is expected of the nursing home. The care likely includes providing nursing home residents with the right amount of food and liquids to meet the nutritional needs of the resident every day.
When this duty of care is breached by the nursing home staff and management, it could lead to charges of negligence in the nursing home, especially if it brings harm to the elderly seniors living there. Negligence in nursing homes is a very serious charge and requires verifiable evidence of neglect to win cases like these.
Unfortunately, negligence can occur for a variety of reasons. The nursing home may be understaffed, and the existing team working at the nursing home may be beyond stretched to capacity. Other reasons for negligence at a nursing home could involve a rushed training, which could lead to multiple mistakes and errors in the weeks and months moving forward.
If you have an elderly loved one in a nursing home, and there are clear signs that malnutrition is underway from a lack of food and water, you should immediately reach out to a Jacksonville dehydration lawyer. Working with a legal professional that knows nursing home issues can give you and your family the support you need to consider a negligence and possible abuse lawsuit against the nursing home.
For a free legal consultation with a Jacksonville Dehydration Lawyer serving Jacksonville, call (800) 794-0444
How to Detect Dehydration
When a senior nursing home resident is nearing dehydration, they may not be conversant enough to share that they need fluids. In fact, dehydration may come to an old person faster than the knowledge of thirst deprivation.
So, it makes sense for loved ones to be on the lookout for signs and symptoms of minor or moderate dehydration. These could include:
- Dryness in mouth
- Increased fatigue
- A higher level of thirst
- Limited amount of passed urine and more yellowish than normal
- Headache or fogginess
- Dry appearance of the skin
Signs of extreme dehydration may include:
- Inelastic skin
- Dark-colored urine
- Extreme thirst in mouth
- Loss of appetite – malnourished appetite
- Lightheadedness, with faintness or dizziness
- Possible seizures
- Heavy breathing
- Constipation or impaction
- Vomiting
Nursing home residents sometimes do not even recognize that they are nearing dehydration. The dizziness could lead to head swirls, which could lead to imbalance and falls, as well as fatigue and extreme thirst.
Jacksonville Jacksonville Dehydration Lawyer Near Me (800) 794-0444
Effects of Dehydration for an Elderly Senior
When a nursing home resident is deprived of food and water due to nursing home abuse and neglect, it can lead to malnutrition and dehydration. When this occurs, the resident can fall victim to serious failing medical conditions, loss of eyesight, other serious illnesses, or even death.
If you are able to visit the nursing home regularly to see your elderly loved one, here are some tips to remember to combat the scourge of dehydration in the nursing home:
- Get your older senior to drink as many fluids as possible. Helping an elderly senior increase fluid intake can be the best method to reduce getting dehydrated
- Showing how to drink water should be a frequent activity. Bring your own water bottle to the nursing home and pour several cups of water while you are there
- Offer small healthy snacks along with the water drinking. Eating small pieces of fruit can also serve to hydrate your elderly senior.
- Address or speak about any issues (for instance frequent urination) that may be the cause for your senior person to drink less water.
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If the nursing home breaches its duty of care, you may have legal grounds for a lawsuit. Whether the neglect is intentional or not can be difficult to prove, but the evidence would be clear that your loved one is being harmed, with physical injuries, and it is because of a breach of duty of care for your family member in the nursing home.
A Jacksonville dehydration lawyer should be contacted right away. You can get the legal help you need for a neglect case against a nursing home. Reach out to us at Pintas & Mullins Law Firm. Our number for your free consultation is (800) 842-6336.
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