Nursing homes are entrusted with one of the most important responsibilities in life: caring for vulnerable and elderly loved ones. Being tasked with this duty means that nursing homes need to ensure that they are abiding by state and federal regulations and laws, including those pertaining to staffing, training, resident supervision and nutrition. Negligence or recklessness in any of these areas, even for a short period of time, can result in tragic consequences.
To see just how devastating nursing home neglect can be, just look at a recent case that is garnering national attention. There, seven people are facing criminal charges related to their mistreatment of two nursing home residents, one of whom died. The egregious acts and inactions of these nursing home staff led to extensive bedsores that developed to gangrene, which caused one of the residents to die from septic shock. The second patient suffered physical harm linked to improper care at the nursing home.
Some claim that the one patient’s death and the other’s injuries were completely avoidable if only nursing home staff had acted appropriately. This is contested by the nursing home, which claims that even prompt medical care would not have changed the outcome. The issue will then be open for argument as the case progresses.
Cases like this help to highlight the dangers of nursing home abuse and neglect. Those affected by nursing home abuse and neglect should consider taking their own legal action. While criminal charges may help impose some penalties, they do nothing to help victims and their families recover their losses. This is why working closely with an attorney skilled in nursing home neglect cases can be the best way to find accountability, closure and compensation for damages suffered.