A resident of a nursing home has a right to have a dignified existence. A nursing home must preserve these rights, including for those who might be challenged mentally and/or physically. If a resident cannot carry out activities of daily living, the nursing home must provide services to maintain good nutrition, grooming and personal and oral hygiene.
A resident should be assessed by the nursing home facility and a plan for that resident must be made to improve the resident’s condition or if not possible, to maintain the person’s condition at all possible.
The law requires nursing homes to ensure that residents do not develop adverse medical conditions or if the condition is inevitable, to make sure it does not deteriorate unless unavoidable.
A patient must be monitored to avoid pressure sores, incontinence, limited motion, falling, psychological problems, social adjustment issues, tube feeding, malnutrition, dehydration and more.
Often times due to under staffing, negligent staffing, improper supervision and/or inadequate training residents will be over medicated, under medicated, not fed properly, not cleaned properly, not taken to the toilet when necessary, not given sufficient fluids and/or nourished, dropped or not properly monitored to avoid a fall, ignored, not cleaned or groomed, call lights not answered, and not included in activities. Lack of staffing and/or underpaid staff can result in overworked employees who become less caring and even emotionally and/or physically abusive.
If you are or a loved one has been injured or neglected in a nursing home or assisted living facility, call Sam Serra for a free phone consultation. He can fight diligently to ensure you and/or a loved one’s rights are represented to the best of his ability.