Nursing home neglect is allowed to prevail in thousands of facilities in Indiana and across the country. Preventing neglect starts by understanding the different causes of neglect.
Understaffing or overcrowding
Neglect is more likely to occur in a nursing home that has too few staff members. A nurse who is assigned to care for 20 patients will barely have time to spend with each one.
Lack of training
Lack of staff safety training is one of the most common types of nursing home neglect that lead to personal injury lawsuits. The injury may be the fault of the nurse and the facility that hires its staff.
Lack of monitoring
Not monitoring a patient’s room increases the risks of nursing home neglect and abuse. Monitoring includes the use of security cameras throughout the building. It is the presence of two or more professionals in the room while a treatment is being administered to the patient. Newly hired or inexperienced nurses should be closely monitored at the start of their employment. Even if an inexperienced nurse makes mistakes, a more experienced nurse should be there to fill in and take over the duties.
Lack of transparency
Transparency allows supervisors to know exactly what their workers are doing at all times. For a nursing home resident, staff members have to note when the resident is being fed, how much medication is being given, when the person is receiving treatment and many other details.
Preventing neglect before it occurs
A nurse has to be mentally, physically and emotionally prepared to care for a resident. Many residents have special needs that must be specifically addressed. Neglect occurs when staff members do not understand the residents’ needs or they don’t receive proper training.
