A lack of a sufficient
number of staff members in a nursing facility continues to be one of the major
contributing factors in nursing home neglect and mistreatment. Understaffing generally
creates an environment where overwhelmed caregivers abuse their assigned
residents and leave them physically, emotionally, or mentally harmed.
The nursing home industry continues to have an exceedingly high turnover rate that is typically associated with understaffing issues. Many nursing facilities failed to pay their staff overtime while increasing the demands on the worker to stay longer, work additional shifts, or come in on their day off.
Serious Consequences
The
consequences of understaffing a nursing facility can be numerous. The patient
may be abused or neglected, which leads to psychological disorders, physical
ailments, or wrongful deaths. Understaffing in a nursing home can violate every
resident’s rights and lead to negligence that includes:
· Overworked staff members can fail to
provide every resident care when required
· The resident’s needs can be ignored
including the requirement for food intake, water, medications, and hygiene
· The facility can fail to assess
residents when getting out of bed or into the wheelchair, which can lead to a fall-related
injury
· The nursing home can fail to reposition
residents who are unable to turn without assistance that results in life-threatening
pressure ulcers
· Nurses can fail to provide the correct
medication at the right dosage to a resident
· Overstressed and overworked nursing
staff can psychologically or emotionally abuse the residents
· Overworked nurses and nurse’s aides can
verbally attack residents
Many of the incidents involving abuse, mistreatment, or neglect occurring in nursing facilities go unreported every year. Many times, the resident is too frightened to speak up or point out the nurse or nurse’s aide guilty of abuse or neglect in fear of retaliation.
The Need for Providing Care
Every nursing
home resident is dependent on their caregiver or staff to ensure their needs
are met, including grooming, medication administration, bathing, and eating. If
the nursing staff fails to bathe or groom the resident regularly, the patient
can quickly develop life-threatening infections or sores. Residents who are
incontinent of bowel or bladder require ongoing assistance. Any failure to
provide that care could lead to severe bedsores or other open wounds that could
produce a life-threatening event.
A failure to
ensure that the resident’s needs are met can cause nutritional deficiencies,
malnutrition, dehydration, and other serious complications.
Immobile patients
require a higher level of care due to his or her limited mobility. These
residents remain dependent on the nursing staff to ensure that their
psychological and physical needs are met. The understaffing at the facility can
make it nearly impossible for nurses and nurse’s aides to turn and reposition
the patient when required, to ensure that muscle atrophy and bedsores are
prevented. Any failure to consistently reposition the resident can cause painful
infections and skin conditions.
An Unsafe Environment
Understaffed
nursing homes can also produce an environment where the patient becomes emotionally,
mentally, physically, or sexually abused. An abusive nurse or nurse’s aide
overwhelmed by understaffing issues can quickly become abusive.
The nursing home can take adequate measures to ensure that they are not understaffed. Medicare, Medicaid, the state, and the federal government can hold these nursing homes accountable for understaffing problems. Government agencies can impose monetary penalties and injured residents and family members can file lawsuits to hold the facility financially responsible for practicing unethical behavior and their failure to provide each patient adequate care.
The adverse effects associated with an understaffed nursing facility are apparent. If the nursing center fails to hire enough staff, the nurses and nurse’s aides cannot provide the highest level of care that every patient deserves. An understaffed center may not have adequate employees to ensure that patients receive proper medical attention. Heavy workloads create an environment where the resident loses their individualized care. A lack of appropriate treatment can be extremely harmful to the patient.
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