Recent Nursing Home Fines Suggest General Lack of Patient Oversight

Fines Show Lack of Patient CaringNursing homes are increasingly becoming a place of distrust and oversight, rather than what they were created to be, a safe and comfortable home for the elderly.

Recently, many nursing homes have been fined for their oversight of patients and the lack of care of patients. Elderly individuals are admitted to nursing homes in the hopes that they will be cared for with the best resources. However, most often this is not what elderly patients receive. In contrast, they are neglected and given very little attention.

Need to oversee fragile patients

Patient oversight can range from ignoring a patient’s request for a diaper change to ignoring a patient’s infected abscess. Some patients go for weeks without baths, which can aggravate infections and illnesses they are already suffering from. The staff working in many nursing homes may forget to attend to a patient during rounds and the elderly patient will only be looked at during the next set of rounds, usually after two or more hours.

Small issues that the nursing staff may not think are important can evolve into larger problems. For example, simply forgetting to change a patient’s diaper can cause a bladder infection or set the course for a bedsore to form. Both of these infections can cause great suffering to a patient and if left unnoticed, can cause serious health issues.

Patient oversight occurs much too often in nursing home facilities. The elderly are at an extra disadvantage compared to younger patients at other medical facilities because they are unable to exert their rights in an adequate manner. Sometimes these patients are unable to walk or talk and cannot express their feelings or their issues properly, even to their own family members.

Who is Responsible?

Nursing homes must be held responsible for the pain and suffering elderly patients experience due to the oversights of staff members. There is no excuse for ignoring a patient’s cry for help. Staff members are responsible for the well being and the security of these patients, and if they are not doing their job properly, there must be penalties.

Fining Nursing Homes

Fortunately, state governments are taking action against the neglect of nursing homes. They are fining the nursing homes for the distress and pain that the elderly patients have been suffering due to their oversight. These fines are influencing nursing homes to take action and better train their staff to ensure that mistakes or negligence do not occur at their facilities again.

Nursing homes have been established to help the elderly. However, nowadays nursing homes are becoming more of a problem for the elderly patients. Lack of care and an increase in patient oversight is causing nursing homes to no longer be a safe option for the elderly. If the nursing homes cannot guarantee safety and proper medical attention to their patients, they should not be in service. Fining these nursing homes is essential in motivating the staff to increase their standards and their quality of care.

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