Any family assessing nursing homes in San Bernardino County for an elderly loved one should be thinking about safety ratings and histories of abuse or safety violations at the facility. These numbers certainly do not tell the entire story and any nursing home — even one with a spotless record — can be a place where elder abuse occurs, or nursing home negligence results in an accidental injury or death. However, ratings and reports can provide a portion of information that should be taken seriously. At the same time, a study reported in McKnight’s Long-Term Care News suggests that there may be another factor to consider: whether the nursing home is unionized.
Nursing home employees who are unionized are more likely to report workplace injuries, according to the report, and that information is important for a key reason: workplace injuries often occur in healthcare facilities due to employee burnout. Accordingly, a lower rate of workplace injuries could suggest a lower risk of negligence-related injuries among elderly residents. Our San Bernardino County nursing home neglect lawyers can tell you more.
Unionization, Improved Staffing, and Less Burnout