Most nursing homes do a fine job. The staff works hard to meet the physical, emotional, and mental needs of all their residents, and even to take the extra few minutes to offer company and companionship.

In some nursing homes, the staff is working too hard. They are overworked. Regardless of how quickly they rush through their tasks, there are still just so many hours in the shift, and sometimes they cannot do everything. In this way, nursing homes can resemble hospital emergency rooms. Both environments put patients at a greater risk for being neglected somehow, or for having a mistake made in their care.

In a few nursing homes, there might also be staff who really shouldn’t be in that line of work – people who are less sensitive than they should be to a patient’s pain, or thirst, or growing skin problem. This can happen even in beautiful and quality places like Boca Raton and West Palm Beach.

In legal terms, negligence means that the health care professional did not give the standard of care that is expected from a nurse, nurse’s aide, doctor, etc. When we place our loved ones in a nursing home , we expect they will receive good care, and if they don’t, we may have a basis for a legal claim.

Types of nursing home negligence

• Skin care neglect – many nursing home patients are unable to turn themselves in bed, and this must be done for them at regular and frequent intervals. Otherwise, the skin pressed against the bed starts to break down, and a decubitus forms (bed sore). This can enlarge, become infected and become hard to heal.

• Missed medication – as the nurse makes her medication rounds, a patient not in his usual place may be overlooked and not receive an essential daily medication. Or perhaps the nurse doesn’t wait to see that the medication is actually swallowed.

• Wrong medication – The wrong medication may be given, or the wrong dosage (one pill instead of two, for instance). Perhaps the bottle is mis-labeled, in which case the pharmicist may have been negligent.

• Dehydration – Elderly patients are often not aware of being thirsty, and water must be offered to them at regular intervals to prevent dehydration.

• Falls – Many nursing home patients need assistance to walk, whether a walker, or personal assistance. Many are in wheelchairs and cannot walk. Patients constantly need help in transferring from bed to chair or wheelchair. Carelessness in giving this assistance can cause a fall, and in an elderly person, the bones are more likely to break.

• Wandering – Ambulatory patients may not be carefully monitored and may wander out of the facility, into the grounds, even on to the street. They would be a great risk of injury because they may be unable to move quickly and may have poor vision. They may have Alzheimer’s and not understand that traffic is dangerous, for instance.

Besides neglect, there is also the issue of nursing home abuse, meaning deliberate neglect or unkindness. This can take many forms: physical, mental, financial, emotional, sexual.

If you have a loved one in a nursing home, the best thing you can do for them is visit them regularly. Make the nursing home staff aware of your existence, and of your concern for your loved one. That will help to prevent neglect.