If your elderly loved one suffers injuries or other damages while in a nursing home due to understaffing, you can hold the facility liable. A Philadelphia understaffing lawyer can help you file a claim on your family member’s behalf. Call Pintas & Mullins Law Firm at (800) 842-6336 for a free consultation about your case.
Understaffing in nursing homes or hospitals is a problem that puts the lives of residents at risk. When for-profit healthcare centers fail to hire and retain enough personnel, they strain the available staff members by pushing them to do more to fill the gap.
Why Nursing Homes Are Understaffed
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 1.3 million older adults receive residential services in different nursing homes across the United States every year.
Data reveals that nurses and other healthcare workers are overwhelmed by the number of clients they need to see daily. The majority of nursing homes have guidelines that force staff to work for long hours while attending to residents’ numerous needs.
Such employees lack crucial support to carry out their tasks because the nursing home chooses to under-staff due to several reasons.
Financial Gains
The primary focus of most for-profit healthcare providers is to maximize profit margins. Such facilities will do everything to cut on their expenses for maximum profits. They opt for negligent actions, such as admitting more residents than they can manage or overstretching the available resources.
In such cases, staff members are on the receiving end as the facility depends on them to get the job done. When tasks are continually straining workers, this will affect their productivity.
Unavailability of Trained Professionals
The standard care of the medical community requires all nursing homes to employ only trained and licensed personnel. If such facilities do not access the right individuals, they are forced to rely on the few available members, resulting in under-staffing.
Insufficient Funding
Nursing homes need colossal capital to purchase sophisticated medical equipment and hire healthcare personnel. The high wage bill required to retain more staff members force such facilities to employ fewer people to reduce recurring costs.
As a result, the facility ends up having staff that can barely meet its needs.
Inadequate Management and Lack of Passion
It takes a passion to serve as a healthcare provider. If nursing home employees are not part of a good working environment, they may lack the desire to tend to residents’ needs efficiently. Combining such a mindset with unqualified administration results in low-quality services, where residents have to wait for long hours before receiving help.
Nursing homes have the responsibility for ensuring that your loved one can access medical services when in need.
Understaffing is professionally unethical and if your loved one suffers injuries as a result, a lawyer can file a claim for monetary compensation.
The Effects of Understaffing
According to the National Academies Press (NAP), there are several effects of nursing home understaffing, including:
- Neglecting the needs of sensitive residents, including the elderly adults and individuals with chronic conditions, who may require immediate attention
- Nurses exposed to a stressful working environment and insufficient staff are more likely to abuse the residents verbally or physically
- Reduced individualized care as the time spent on a resident is significantly reduced
- Stress, frustration, and inability to provide optimal services due to lack of motivation
For a free legal consultation with a Philadelphia Understaffing Lawyer Lawyer serving Philadelphia, call (800) 842-6336
The Crime of Understaffing
Understaffing a nursing home can lead to negligence. Suppose your loved one is waiting for several hours before being helped. The wait can be unbearable, especially if the elderly adult needs urgent medical attention.
These are only a few examples characterizing the consequences of understaffing. Such long waits and insufficient care are tied to understaffing. For-profit nursing homes have a habit of employing fewer members to reduce expenses and increase revenue.
Some elderly residents may pass away as a result of understaffing. These deaths could have been preventable if the facilities have enough personnel to administer medicine and monitor their residents for any unusual signs.
However, it is not easy to prove that the infection or injury that your family member suffered is linked to understaffing. The facility’s management may attempt to conceal any evidence that can support your claim.
Due to the complex nature of these claims, a Philadelphia understaffing lawyer can help.
According to Pennsylvania laws, healthcare facilities owe their clients the highest possible standards of care. They cannot use understaffing as an excuse to evade their responsibilities.
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Find a Philadelphia Understaffing Lawyer
If your family member has suffered at a nursing home because of understaffing, filing a claim is the best step to ensure the at-fault parties take responsibility for their negligence.
If you are contemplating filing a compensation claim for the harms that nursing home understaffing has caused your loved one, seek the help of a lawyer. Expert legal aid can help you hold the liable parties accountable and prevent nursing homes from prioritizing their profits at the expense of their clients’ needs.
Having a personal injury attorney on your side will help protect you and your loved one’s legal rights.
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Contact Pintas & Mullins Law Firm for Help
If you are looking for a Philadelphia understaffing lawyer to pursue justice on behalf of your loved one, our law firm is up to the task. We can investigate the case, file the claim, and defend your interest by gathering compelling evidence that will prove you deserve monetary compensation. We rely on contingency fees, meaning you do not have to make payments unless we win your case. Contact Pintas & Mullins Law Firm at (800) 842-6336 for legal assistance filing a claim.
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