How Understaffing Leads to Nursing Home Injuries
A nursing home can have beautiful rooms, modern equipment, and impressive marketing materials.
But none of those things can replace enough qualified people actually caring for residents.
When there aren't enough employees to meet residents' needs, basic care can suffer.
Nursing Home Residents Often Need Constant Assistance
Many residents require help with everyday activities.
Employees may need to:
- Assist residents getting out of bed
- Help with toileting
- Reposition immobile residents
- Provide meals
- Assist residents with eating
- Administer medication
- Respond to call bells
- Monitor residents at risk for falls
- Perform skin assessments
- Document changes in condition
When too few employees are responsible for too many residents, delays and missed care can occur.
Understaffing and Falls
A resident may be instructed not to walk without assistance.
But what happens when that resident presses the call button and nobody comes?
Eventually, the resident may attempt to get to the bathroom alone.
A preventable fall can happen in seconds.
Understaffing and Bedsores
Residents with limited mobility may require regular repositioning and skin monitoring.
When staff members are overwhelmed, repositioning or assessments may be missed.
A pressure injury can progress from an area of irritated skin into a serious wound requiring extensive treatment.
Understaffing and Nutrition
Some residents need someone to physically assist them with meals.
If employees don't have enough time, residents may eat or drink less than they need.
Over time, inadequate assistance can potentially contribute to dehydration, malnutrition, weakness, and additional medical problems.
Understaffing and Medication
Medication administration requires attention.
Overworked employees can be placed in circumstances where mistakes become more likely.
Depending upon the circumstances, errors may involve missed medications, incorrect doses, delayed administration, or inadequate monitoring.
Staffing Records Can Become Important Evidence
When investigating suspected neglect, it may be important to determine who was actually working when the injury occurred.
Records can potentially help answer questions such as:
- How many residents were assigned to employees?
- What employees were scheduled?
- Who actually reported for work?
- What qualifications did those employees have?
- Was overtime excessive?
- Were temporary employees being used?
The answers can help provide context for what happened to the resident.
Understaffing Doesn't Excuse Neglect
Families pay nursing facilities to provide care their loved ones may no longer be capable of providing for themselves.
A facility's staffing problems should not simply become the resident's problem.
When inadequate staffing contributes to a serious injury, the facility's staffing practices may deserve careful investigation.
Talk With a Pittsburgh Nursing Home Neglect Lawyer
If your loved one's injury appears connected to delayed care, unanswered call bells, missed repositioning, poor supervision, or other signs of inadequate staffing, consider investigating what occurred.
Frank Walker Law represents nursing-home residents and their families in Pittsburgh and throughout Pennsylvania.
Contact Frank Walker Law to discuss a suspected nursing-home neglect case.
Know someone with a parent or grandparent in long-term care? Like and share this article. Families who know what to watch for are better equipped to ask questions before a problem becomes a tragedy.
About Frank Walker Law
Attorney Frank Walker of Frank Walker Law is a National Top 100 Criminal Defense Lawyer, and Personal Injury Attorney who has been recognized as a Super Lawyer, a member of the National College for DUI Defense, Best Attorneys in America, Best Law firms of America, America’s Greatest Attorneys, and a Top AVVO Rated attorney, with offices in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and Morgantown West Virginia.
Additionally, you can find Attorney Walker on YouTube, TikTok, the Pittsburgh Attorney Podcast and the West Virginia Attorney Podcast, where he gives legal tips (not advice!) and discusses the pressing legal issues of the day.
If you or someone you love are facing criminal charges or are seriously injured in an accident, contact Attorney Frank Walker immediately at 412-532-6805 (Pittsburgh), 304-413-0179 (Morgantown), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for aggressive and experienced Criminal Defense or Representation in a Civil Case.