WITH A LOVED ONE IN A NURSING HOME, VIGILANCE IS IN ORDER

“Before you assume, try asking” is part of the training for life coaches. That mantra should be adopted by anyone with a loved one in a nursing home, we’ve learned at Ramey & Hailey. That’s because the unfortunate truth is that not all nursing home patients are receiving the appropriate standard of care.

When medical professionals fail to adhere to the appropriate standard of care, that is actually a type of medical negligence. After all, family members trust caregivers in the nursing home to alleviate their loved ones’ suffering and to do everything they can to preserve their relatives’ quality of life. And when that level of dedicated effort is not being put forth, the situation can actually be categorized as medical malpractice, and family members can sue to recover damages if negligence or abuse is discovered.

At Ramey & Hailey Law, knowing from experience how technical and specialized a field medical care is, we are able to recommend the appropriate course of action when there is a medical malpractice issue in a nursing home. A facility may be called a nursing home, a convalescent center, a rest home, or elder care facility. Whichever one it is, the owners of that facility can be held legally liable when harm is caused to a patient or resident.

Too often, incidents of abuse and neglect go unreported, because elderly residents are either unable to communicate effectively or fear retaliation from staff members. (Sometimes even family members are afraid to complain, fearing that the staff will “take it out” on their loved one.) At Ramey & Hailey, we find that people often turn to us for help only after finally realizing that their elderly loved one has been a victim for a long time. They had assumed things were all right and had failed to ask important questions after noticing certain signs of abuse or neglect.

When it comes to patient care, the nursinghomeabusecenter.com cautions that visitors need to be alert for any of these signs in the family member whom they are visiting:

• dehydration
• frequent infections
• malnourishment
• pressure ulcers (bed sores)
• over-sedation

Neglect, we try to emphasize, is often not done out of intent to harm a nursing home patient. Nonetheless, when inattention or substandard care results in harm, there is legal liability. The truth is, with a loved one in a nursing home or other facility, assuming is dangerous.  Ask questions and pay attention, because vigilance is in order!