DO YOU SUSPECT ABUSE OR NEGLECT? Contact Us for a Free Consultation

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Nursing homes in Los Angeles County and throughout the state of California are already subject to staffing requirements — something that is true for nursing homes in only about 20 states. However, last spring, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized a rule that would require all long-term care facilities to have staffing requirements, including the standard of 3.48 hours per day or more for each resident, which includes requires of at least 0.55 hours per day of direct care from a registered nurse (RN), as well as at least 2.45 hours per day of direct nurse aide care. The additional 0.48 hours per day of care required, according to the finalized rule, can come from RN, licensed practice nurse (LPN) care, licensed vocational nurse (LVN) care, or nurse aide care.

The rule was finalized on April 22, 2024, yet a recent report in McKnight’s suggests that a high percentage of nursing homes across the United States are unlikely to be able to meet the requirements in the final rule. And further, the report suggests, the staffing requirements in the final rule could be undone by Trump administration actions. Will the new nationwide staffing requirements, or the possibility of a pulling back of those requirements, impact nursing home care and safety in California?

Staffing Requirements in California Nursing Homes

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As recent wildfires began to spread quickly in various parts of Los Angeles County and throughout Southern California, many residents of nursing homes and assisted-living facilities in affected areas were evacuated. According to data from the California Department of Public Health, nearly 1,000 residents of nursing homes and residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFEs) were evacuated as a result of fire risks. At the same time, not all facilities took steps to evacuate residents or to account for resident safety. 

Indeed, a recent report from NBC Los Angeles described a 96-year-old nursing home resident in her room who could see the Eaton Fire burning nearby, outside her window. The facility where that resident lived had been evacuated, but she was left in her room. Other similar news stories told of residents in Southern California left behind in nursing home evacuations, or unable to leave nursing homes where evacuations did not occur properly. What duties do nursing homes and assisted-living facilities owe residents in the event of wildfires or other environmental hazards? Consider the following information from our Los Angeles County nursing home negligence lawyers.

Nursing Homes Must Have Preparations for Safe Evacuations

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Realizing that an elderly parent needs to move into a nursing home to receive the level of care they need can be difficult — both emotionally for their adult children and other family members and in terms of finding a safe and high-quality facility. When you are looking at potential nursing homes in Orange County or elsewhere in Southern California, it is important to consider a wide range of factors. You should think about indicators of good care and safety at a facility just as carefully as potential red flags that arise during a visit. It is always important to visit ahead of time and to be sure that you have a chance to see a facility before staff members can fully plan ahead for a visit. In other words, it is important to be able to see any potential facility as it operates normally on an everyday basis. 

Once you visit a facility, you should then pay attention to signs of quality care, as well as signs that safety could be an issue.

Indicators of Quality Care in a Nursing Home

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CANHR-300x283Is there any right more fundamental than the freedom to leave a place where you do not wish to stay? For nursing home residents in California, this right is often disregarded—sometimes in direct violation of the law. Fortunately, the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR) has recently updated its guide for long-term care residents who are being held against their will. This guide outlines the legal protections available and provides practical steps to challenge illegal restrictions on a resident’s right to leave.

The Right to Move Freely

Imagine you live independently in an apartment, making your own choices and living life on your own terms. One day, your landlord locks you inside, installs alarms on your doors and windows, and tells you that you’re not allowed to leave. He insists that, for your own safety, you must remain inside indefinitely. When you call the police for help, they tell you that your situation is a “civil matter” and that you need a court order to be able to leave.

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For anyone with a loved one in a Riverside County nursing home or assisted living facility, it is important to make sure that the facility is providing proper care to your elderly parent or relative. Discussions about nursing home abuse and neglect and red flags associated with mistreatment can be more than disconcerting to hear about from friends or family members or to read about in news stories. You may know how important it is to look for signs of nursing home abuse or neglect whenever you visit your loved one, including signs of physical harm like cuts, bruises, or burns, as well as physical indicators of negligence such as bed sores or broken bones. But how can you determine whether nursing home abuse is happening when there are no physical signs?

Emotional and psychological abuse is one common type of abuse that occurs in nursing home settings, and signs of it may not always be obvious. Among nursing home residents with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, as well as other forms of cognitive impairment, psychological abuse may be particularly difficult to uncover. Our Riverside County nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers can tell you more. 

Understanding Psychological and Emotional Abuse in Nursing Homes

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Elderly nursing home residents are at increased risk of certain injuries due to age-related factors, as well as medical conditions that are common among older adults. In addition to dealing with reduced bone health and fall-related fracture risks, as well as risks for injuries like bed sores among older adults with mobility issues, choking deaths have become a significant problem in nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Southern California. No choking death should ever occur, and these deaths are preventable when nursing homes maintain safety procedures and ensure that every resident receives the level of care they need based on their individual condition. However, nursing homes and assisted living facilities are often negligent, and residents suffer serious and deadly injuries that include choking deaths. 

According to a recent report in the Los Angeles Times, a particular Mission Hills nursing home was cited for two separate resident choking deaths in a span of fewer than three months. What should you know about the risks at this particular facility, and how does the facility’s negligence speak to the larger issue of choking deaths in nursing homes and assisted living facilities? Our Los Angeles County nursing home negligence lawyers can tell you more.

Choking Risks in Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities

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Whether you have already made one or more visits to a loved one in San Diego County during the holiday season or you have plans for an upcoming visit, it is a particularly good time of the year to be on the lookout for any signs of elder abuse or neglect if your elderly loved one is living in a nursing home, a skilled nursing facility, an assisted-living facility, or any other type of residential care facility for the elderly (RCFE) in Southern California. The holiday season often involves multiple visits from family and adult children gathering to see their parents, which means adult children and other family members can work together to identify potential abuse or neglect risks.

Making a Plan to Focus on Your Elderly Loved One’s Safety 

During the holiday season — or during any time of the year when family members gather to see a loved one in a nursing home or assisted-living facility — it is helpful to make a plan to focus on health and safety. Sporadic visits at other times of the year may be relatively quick, and those visits may involve only one person stopping by an elderly parent’s nursing home room or assisted-living facility residence. When multiple family members are together, especially adult children, they can work together to consider injury risks at the nursing home or other facility and to pay particular attention to warning signs of abuse or neglect.

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Serious and fatal injuries can happen at nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Los Angeles County for many different reasons. Some of those reasons involve intentionally bad acts, including physical, emotional, and sexual abuse toward elderly residents or willful deprivation of elderly residents. Under other circumstances, older adults can sustain serious harm as a result of negligence. A staff member or the facility itself may not intend any harm, but because of issues like understaffing or employee burnout, the elderly residents might not receive the oversight and care they need to stay safe and healthy. The latter is often how choking injuries and deaths occur in nursing homes and other residential care facilities for the elderly in Southern California.

When a choking injury or death occurs, who is liable? Our Los Angeles nursing home negligence lawyers can explain in more detail.

Nursing Home Duty to Understand Choking Risks and to Take Precautions

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In San Bernardino County and throughout Southern California, there are millions of older adults, many of whom reside in nursing homes or assisted living facilities. According to data from the California Health Benefits Review Program (CHBRP), adults aged 65 and up represent the “fastest growing age group” in California. In 2021, there were 6 million older adults living in the state, and that number has since increased. By 2030, the CHBRP estimates that the state’s population of adults aged 65 and up will total nearly 9 million, or 20 percent of California’s population. Is it possible to prevent nursing home abuse and neglect among this aging population?

While incidents of nursing home abuse and neglect can be based on factors specific to a facility, there are also risk factors associated with individuals. What are the general risk factors to consider in nursing home abuse or neglect cases? Our San Bernardino nursing home neglect lawyers can discuss some of the most common risk factors with you.

Understanding Abuse and Neglect Risk Factors in Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities

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If you suspect that your parent has been abused or neglected in a North County San Diego nursing home or assisted living facility, taking swift and decisive action is crucial. The consequences of elder neglect and abuse can be devastating, not only compromising the health and safety of your loved one but also causing irreparable harm to their emotional well-being. Southern California Nursing Home Law Group is here to support you and your family every step of the way, with over 20 years of experience representing victims of elder neglect and abuse. Our team is deeply committed to seeking justice for vulnerable seniors and ensuring that negligent facilities are held accountable for their actions.

Neglect and abuse in nursing homes can take many forms. Common types of neglect include failing to provide basic medical care, improper wound care for bed sores, malnutrition, dehydration, inadequate hygiene, and medication errors. In some cases, vulnerable seniors are left in soiled clothing for hours, experience prolonged isolation, or suffer from dangerous falls because of inadequate supervision or poor safety measures. These conditions are not merely oversights; they are violations of the duty of care that nursing homes owe to their residents. Elder abuse may also present as physical, emotional, or even financial harm, where residents are subjected to physical assaults, emotional torment, or exploitation of their finances by staff members. Any signs of bruising, rapid weight loss, behavioral changes, or unexplained injuries warrant immediate investigation and action.

The consequences of neglect and abuse in nursing homes can be severe, leading to long-term physical complications, psychological trauma, or even premature death. For families already grappling with the emotional burden of entrusting a loved one to the care of others, discovering mistreatment can be heart-wrenching. This is why holding nursing homes accountable is not just about seeking compensation for the harm caused; it’s also about promoting systemic change in the industry. When facilities are allowed to operate negligently without repercussions, more families stand to suffer the same fate. Pursuing justice sends a strong message that negligent behavior will not be tolerated, and it may prevent future incidents from occurring.

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