Nursing homes are widespread across the country. According to the 2014 data from the CDC, there are approximately 15,600 nursing homes with 1.4 million residents in the United States. These facilities are necessary for providing assistance to many senior citizens.
Unfortunately, many nursing home residents suffer injuries. If you know someone in a senior care facility, you should be aware of the common causes of injuries in nursing homes.
Understaffing
A lot of nursing homes do not have enough staff members to handle the needs of all the residents. Without enough nurses and assistants to care for residents, a resident may suffer from neglect. This can result in a variety of health complications, such as bedsores, untreated illnesses, and slip and falls.
Immobility
As people age, they often lose the ability to move as easily–if at all–by themselves. Some nursing home residents require help to get out of bed. If the nursing home staff neglects to help an immobile resident, he or she may develop bedsores and a further loss of mobility.
Lack of training
Many members of nursing home staff do not receive adequate training to provide proper care. With such a high turnover rate, there may be inadequate experience and training among certain workers. This often results in a failure to provide reasonable care for residents.
No fall prevention plan
Due to the high risk of falls among elderly people, nursing homes must take action to prevent these accidents from happening. A comprehensive fall prevention procedure may include fall mats, bed alarms, better lightings, keeping floors free of clutter, and increasing overall staffing.
Intentional abuse
While some nursing home residents may get hurt because of unintentional circumstances or medical conditions, sometimes staff members intentionally hurt residents. Some staff members may cause harm to a resident out of anger or frustration.
There are a lot of factors that contribute to injuries among nursing home residents, but these are some of the most prevalent.
