West Palm Beach Nursing Home Abuse

Nursing Home Abuse

Do you have concerns about how your loved ones are being treated in a nursing home? Perhaps you feel that they do the best they can, but that does not necessarily mean that their patients are being treated the way they need to be. If it can be proven that the home or its employees have acted negligently you may be able to sue to recover any damages. These damages can include pain and suffering, medical bills, disfigurement and disability. Florida law also reads that punitive damages are available. A punitive damage is an award that “punishes” the other party and is meant to discourage others from acting in a similar manner. With that being said, punitive damages are rarely awarded. As a West Palm Beach personal injury lawyer I am familiar with these types of cases and can help you determine if you have a case against a nursing home.

There are several areas that a nursing home may have negligence and you may have grounds for filing a nursing home claim.

Hiring Practices

What are the hiring practices of the nursing home? They have an obligation to their clients/residents to hire employees that are qualified. This means that they need to have the necessary educational background and experience to fulfill their job requirements. A nursing home needs to perform background checks on its employees. When a nursing home fails to perform these checks and their residents are hurt, they may be held liable.

Properly Staffed

The Center for Disease Control released a report that read that the average staff to resident ratio is 1 staff member to every 1.64 residents. If a nursing home is trying to cut corners and save on their overhead by not staffing enough employees the residents become vulnerable. This is due to the fact that the staff does not have enough time to spend with each resident. The other potential danger in understaffing is that more work will have to be performed by each staff member. This can lead to more stress and often causes a lack of morale and the compassion needed to work in this type of industry. Having an understaffed nursing home where a resident is injured or dies can lead to the nursing home being held liable.

Poor Staff Training

Is the nursing home taking the time, energy, and financial resources to train their employees properly on how to provide proper care to disabled or unruly residents? Once again, if the nursing home is not providing the proper level of training to its employees they may be held liable if an injury or death occurs.

Errors in Medication

Most residents in a nursing home require the use of medication. It is imperative that the staff of the nursing home administers the proper amounts at the proper times. When an error with medication occurs the results could be serious injury or even death and the nursing home could be held liable.