Studies have found that nursing homes tend to have fairly high turnover rates. For example, in some studies, the overall turnover rate was greater than 300% during the course of a year. The highest median turnover rate was for registered nurses (RNs), where it came in at 102.9%.
This does vary from facility to facility, of course, but these high percentages show that there’s a significant problem within the industry itself. How could this make nursing homes more dangerous?
Staff have less training
To begin with, the staff simply have less training and less experience. The nursing home operator is constantly having to bring in new members and train them properly. By the time they gain experience, many of them are already moving on. This means that residents are constantly receiving assistance from staff members with the lowest level of experience, who may still be very early in their training.
Staffing numbers can be low
Another problem with high turnover rates is that it takes time to replace people who decide to leave. Even if the owner of the nursing home is fairly proactive about trying to hire new employees, it’s simply not an overnight process. This means that the nursing home may be chronically understaffed because they’re constantly in the position of having to find new workers.
Understaffing can significantly increase risks for residents because there may simply not be enough people on the clock at the same time to meet all of their needs.
What legal options do you have?
If your loved one is in a nursing home that is often understaffed, or if they’re receiving care from staff members who don’t have the proper training and experience, negligence and injuries can occur. If you find yourself in this position, make sure that you are well aware of all of your legal options and the steps to take moving forward.
