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When nursing homes are understaffed, facilities can handle the lack of caregivers by hiring temporary help. Some facilities don’t this do this, however, and decide to put residents at risk instead by leaving the facility with too few trained employees. Sometimes, facilities require the few staff members they do have at their disposal to work too many hours. Staffing standards are definitely a serious issue.
If your loved one suffered abuse or neglect while residing at an understaffed nursing home in Indiana for example, an Indiana nursing home abuse attorney may be able to help. Don’t forget that our law firm helps clients across the entire country so no matter what state you are in, you can reach out to our team today to learn more about your legal options depending on the particularities of your case.
If your loved one suffered abuse or neglect while residing at an understaffed nursing home, a lawyer may be able to help. Reach out to our team today to learn more.
What Neglect Can Look Like in a Nursing Home
Abuse and neglect of nursing home residents can directly cause serious injury or accelerated death. Some forms of neglect toward elderly nursing home residents may include failure to:
- Properly monitor residents of a nursing home.
- Handle residents with care when moving or transporting them.
- Feed residents in a way that is safe and unlikely to cause choking.
- Provide basic hygiene to residents.
- Properly care for injuries or alert medical staff to an injured resident.
- Intervene if abuse occurs between residents.
- Staff facilities with properly trained employees.
While nursing home staff can be negligent, nursing home facility administrators and management can also be liable if they fail to train staff members to be empathetic caregivers.
Ways that nursing home administrators and management can be liable for injuries include:
- Understaffing, resulting in residents without the proper level of care and attentiveness.
- Failing to vet employees for past mistakes, convictions, and other red flags.
- Failing to properly train employees.
These are just a few of the ways that a nursing home or assisted living facility could put your loved ones at risk when they don’t deal with understaffing in the correct way.
The Potential Dangers of Understaffing
Because most businesses are focused on revenue, caregiving institutions included, understaffing is a common cost-cutting measure in nursing homes of all sizes and types. It is also more common than most people think. In fact, a 2018 study by Kaiser Health Group found that most nursing homes have fewer staff on hand than they report to the federal government.
An understaffed nursing home creates great risk for its residents when it has fewer staff on duty. Living in an understaffed nursing home may leave your loved one at a greater risk of:
- Choking without receiving help.
- Suffering serious injuries without treatment.
- Victimization from staff and other residents.
- Going without basic care and hygiene.
- Becoming isolated, which can lead to rapid deterioration.
- Suffering from a heart attack or stroke without treatment.
- Suffering from diminishing health.
Make no mistake: understaffing may be a common issue, but it is life-threatening and dangerous. Understaffing puts lives at risk. If your loved one suffered harm in a nursing home due to understaffing, you may be able to recover compensation for damages on their behalf. Damages may include:
- Out-of-pocket expenses
- Current and future medical care
- Pain and suffering
- Cost to replace damaged or lost items in the event of destruction of or stolen property
A lawyer from Pintas & Mullins Law Firm will analyze your case to determine the types of compensation you can receive if the way a nursing home deals with understaffing was ineffective.
We Can Help You File a Claim Against an Understaffed Nursing Home That Neglected Your Loved One
If an understaffed nursing home put your loved one at risk, our team at Pintas & Mullins Law Firm aims to ensure that your loved one faces no additional risk of harm. We will do this by:
- Meeting with you and your loved one to discuss the understaffing issue and how it impacted your loved one.
- Building a case and informing you and your family of your options.
- Ensuring that we abide by all relevant statutes of limitation.
- Filing all paperwork in a timely manner.
- Conducting our own investigation into how many staff members are on duty at your loved one’s nursing home and determining whether the number of staff on duty at any given time is enough to meet the needs of residents.
- When the time is right, alerting the nursing home of the upcoming case and requesting their cooperation to interview staffers and administrators.
- Reviewing any relevant evidence, such as security tapes and staffing logs.
- Handling all legal responsibilities that arise while pursuing financial awards.
- Protecting your and your loved one’s legal rights throughout the legal process.
- Keeping you updated at every stage of the case.
- Representing your loved one in court, if necessary.
If a nursing home didn’t deal with understaffing correctly, and it caused your loved one to suffer elder abuse or neglect, then you may be eligible for financial awards.
For a free legal consultation, call (800) 842-6336
Call Pintas & Mullins Law Firm Today
Our team at Pintas & Mullins Law Firm can help if your loved one resides or was residing in an understaffed nursing home. Call our team today at (800) 842-6336 to discuss your case. Our clients pay nothing out of pocket, nothing upfront, and we only collect a fee if we secure a judgement or settlement on your behalf.
Call or text (800) 842-6336 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
