Articles Posted in Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect

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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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Anyone who has an elderly parent or relative who resides in a nursing home or assisted-living facility in San Bernardino County should know about the risks of nursing home abuse, neglect, and negligence. Generally speaking, older adults in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities can be at risk of injuries from various types of harm, both intentional and unintentional. Trying to understand the distinctions between abuse, neglect, and negligence in relation to seniors can be confusing, and our Southern California nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers can help to clarify the terms for you. If you have further questions or if you need assistance with a claim, do not hesitate to get in touch with us.

Intentional Elder Abuse

The term elder abuse often refers to acts of intentional abuse. The National Council on Aging (NCOA) underscores that there are many forms of intentional abuse that can result in severe harm to older adults in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, including physical abuse, emotional or psychological abuse, sexual abuse, and willful deprivation. 

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When an elderly loved one requires care outside their home, it is important to find a facility that can meet your loved one’s needs and ensure that they will receive proper care so that they do not sustain preventable injuries. Yet, risks of falls in nursing homes and assisted living facilities, as well as issues with understaffing, can result in different types of accidents that can cause traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) in residents. While TBIs are most commonly associated with contact sports (like football and soccer) in the news or with motor vehicle crashes and certain high-risk recreational activities, they also occur more often than you might think in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. 

According to a new report in McKnights Long-Term Care News, sustaining multiple TBIs can have particularly harmful effects on older adults. In short, multiple TBIs can increase the risk for “worse cognitive decline” and, ultimately, a reduced life expectancy and reduced quality of life. Our San Diego County nursing home neglect lawyers can explain in more detail.

Traumatic Brain Injuries and Dementia in Older Adults

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Residents in Los Angeles County nursing homes and assisted-living facilities should never have to worry about getting hurt because of acts of violence perpetrated by staff members or fellow residents. However, as a recent study discussed in The New York Times reveals, violence is much more common than many people suspect, and it is certainly not an uncommon occurrence. When violence occurs in a Los Angeles County nursing home or assisted living facility and a resident is injured, it is important to seek legal advice. The facility itself may be liable since it has a duty of care to residents. Our experienced Los Angeles County nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers can tell you more and can assist you if you have concerns about an elderly loved one.

Violence and Injuries Caused by Other Residents

Often, when we think about nursing home abuse or neglect and injuries resulting from it, we think about injuries caused by the intentional or negligent behavior of a staff member or employee at a nursing home. Yet, as the article in The New York Times underscores, violence caused by other residents is actually extremely common. The article explains that, in nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, and other types of “long-term care facilities, residents sometimes yell at or threaten one another, lob insults, invade fellow residents’ personal or living space, rummage through others’ possessions and take them,” and “they can swat or kick or push.”

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Does the language spoken by a caregiver at a nursing home or assisted-living facility in Riverside County have an effect on the quality of care a resident receives? Do nursing homes and assisted-living facilities need to have caregivers on staff who speak the same language as the residents and who are familiar with the linguistic and cultural contexts from which residents have come to the nursing home or assisted-living facility? A recent report from McKnights Senior Living discusses initiatives to overcome language barriers for certified nursing assistants (CNAs) in California and in several other states across the country. Our Riverside County nursing home negligence lawyers can tell you more.

Language Barriers for Caregivers and Residents in Southern California Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities

According to the article, there are currently significant language barriers impacting the ability of potential nursing home and assisted living facility employees to become CNAs due to language barriers. Indeed, “foreign-born workers account for 27% of the nation’s direct care workforce, but many states maintain strict, English-only testing and training requirements that can prevent some immigrants from entering the workforce.” Given that there is a significant need for more long-term care workers, efforts are underway in California and other states to make it possible for workers to pass CNA certification exams in foreign languages. In California, AB 2131 aims to allow workers to take the written and oral competency portions of the CNA exam in Spanish. 

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The nursing home industry, often perceived as a sector struggling with financial viability due to reported accounting losses, presents a conundrum when analyzed through the lens of recent financial activities and market trends. Despite these reported losses, the industry has seen a surge in private equity investments and high transaction prices, suggesting a disconnect between reported financials and the actual economic value of nursing home facilities.

One explanation for this paradox is the concept of profit tunneling, where businesses who own nursing homes engage in financial maneuvers to misreport or hide true profits, essentially obscuring the true financial health of the enterprise. This tactic not only complicates the industry’s financial landscape but also raises questions about the quality of care provided in these facilities. With staffing levels directly tied to the quality of care, the financial engineering within the industry can have real-world impacts on patient care and facility operations.

Furthermore, the practice of engaging in related party transactions—where businesses make deals within a network of interconnected entities—complicates the financial transparency of nursing homes. Such transactions can mask the true profitability of these facilities, affecting everything from investment decisions to policy regulations concerning the industry.

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Older adults who reside in nursing homes or assisted-living facilities in Riverside County or elsewhere in Southern California should be able to expect that the facility where they live has taken sufficient safety precautions to prevent resident injuries. However, nursing homes throughout the state, and indeed across the country, often have safety issues that can result in resident injuries. Depending on the particular hazard, injuries can range from minor to severe. In many of these cases where an injury does occur, it may be possible to hold the nursing home accountable by filing a nursing home neglect claim. Our Riverside County nursing home abuse and neglect attorneys can assist you, and in the meantime, we can tell you more about common safety issues in Southern California nursing homes.

Fall Concerns

Nursing homes have a duty to ensure that their facilities are safe and do not prevent fall hazards, including those that could result in dangerous slips and falls or trips and falls. Common fall hazards, according to the AHRQ, include a lack of grip bars in bathrooms, slick flooring, torn or damaged carpeting, lack of handrails in stairwells, and liquid spills that go uncleaned.

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Nursing homes in San Bernardino County and throughout Southern California must comply with state and federal laws concerning resident care. Those laws require nursing homes to provide a particular level of care based on the resident’s needs, to comply with residents’ rights, and to ensure a certain level of safety at the facility. In recent years, questions and concerns about transparency in nursing homes have become particularly important as residents have experienced injuries due to nursing home abuse and neglect, have been transferred unlawfully to hospice facilities, and have been evicted for inexplicable reasons. 

As of January 1, 2024, a new law is in effect that requires nursing homes to provide detailed information to residents upon eviction. Our San Bernardino County nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers can tell you more.

Risk of Forcible Discharge or Eviction at California Nursing Homes

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