Schedules filled with work, errands, and family events may postpone visits to a loved one residing in a Florida nursing home. Extending the time between visits, however, may result in a family not learning about a patient’s abuse or neglect before it develops into a serious injury.
When a patient experiences mistreatment, proof of a facility employee’s neglect or abuse may provide grounds for legal action. For a legal action to succeed, a nursing home employee must have breached the facility’s duty of care owed to its residents, as noted by ConsumerNotice.org.
Monitoring a resident for quality of care
If a patient experiences an injury because of a caretaker’s negligence, the nursing home may face liability for damages. As a defense, the facility may claim that a patient contributed to his or her own injury by refusing to take medications or spitting them out.
Through regular visits to a loved one, relatives may observe signs of a facility’s high employee turnover. An understaffed nursing home may harbor overworked employees who may pose a higher risk of injury to its patients. As reported by The Florida Times-Union, current state laws require a certified nursing assistant to spend a daily average of 2.7 hours caring for each patient.
Taking an active approach to health care
Nursing home residents may fail to report abuse or neglect to the facility’s supervisors or management. It is important for family members to take an active approach in monitoring a relative’s treatment. Getting to know the details of your loved one’s care may require open discussions regarding whether he or she receives medications or treatments as prescribed. Errors, neglect, or abuse may lead to a severe physical injury if left undiscovered or unreported.
Ms. Olsen has practiced law since 1992. During her law school education and throughout career she knew, if it is not about people, she is not interested. Everything about people interests Ms. Olsen from the simple details of living to the most profound. She began her law career in a skyscraper in downtown Miami representing corporate interests. Within a VERY short time, Pam knew that side of the things in the world was not for her.
