Unfortunately, poor conditions in nursing homes along with neglect and harmful actions to residents are all relatively common situations. Nursing Home Neglect Lawyers Naperville IL are all too familiar with the various statistics. A 2008 New York Times article noted that more than 90 percent of nursing homes throughout the country had been cited for some form of health and safety violations in 2007. Some 17 percent of these facilities were cited for conditions that had significant potential to harm residents, or actually had caused injury.
Nursing Home Neglect Lawyers Naperville IL can help families when a loved one has been harmed by neglect or abuse by staff members. A broad range of troublesome situations have been identified. Because of neglect, some patients develop pressure ulcers, known as bedsores. Those sores are difficult to heal and are at risk of infection.
Without proper attention, nursing home residents may become dehydrated and not obtain adequate nutrition. Patients may be forced to sit in the dining area and wait more than an hour for a meal. Outright, direct abuse of patients also occurs. Staff members may yell at patients, put them in physical restraints or even strike patients.
Staff members may accidentally provide the wrong medication to a resident. Also, numerous incidents have occurred in which staff members intentionally provide sedative medication that the patient is not supposed to have. They may feel frustrated and overwhelmed with dementia patients who are combative, but the sedation can cause serious side effects and even fatalities. Sedating patients is considered legally chemical restraint, and just as unacceptable as physical restraint.
One primary problem with many nursing homes involves too few nursing assistants and nurses to adequately care for the patients without feeling overworked and even exhausted. Another problem is a lack of training for low-level staff members. However, this is no excuse for neglect and abuse of residents who must rely on the workers for their daily well-being. A lawyer such as Peter D. Cullotta with Cullotta Bravo Law Group helps families who are distraught over a disturbing situation that has occurred at a nursing home and harmed their loved one.
