Articles Posted in Nursing Negligence

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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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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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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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Staff at nursing homes and assisted living facilities often discuss being overworked, feeling burnt out, and being employed at facilities where they do not earn enough money to stay engaged in their jobs. When employees at nursing homes and assisted living facilities feel overworked, underappreciated, and burnt out, the overall quality of their work can suffer, which can ultimately have a negative effect on the residents of these facilities for whom those workers provide the necessary care. Could an increase in wages for workers at nursing homes and assisted living facilities reduce the incidents of nursing home neglect or nursing home negligence in Southern California? 

According to a recent article in McKnight’s Senior Living, California’s Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed new legislation into law that will increase the minimum wage for workers at nursing homes and assisted living facilities to $25 per hour. Our Riverside County nursing home negligence lawyers want to discuss the potential impact of the increase in pay on residents at these facilities throughout the state.

Details of the Newly Signed Legislation

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Having an elderly loved one in a nursing home or assisted living facility in San Diego County can be stressful, especially when there is so much news coverage about abuse and neglect impacting residents at these types of facilities. There are also many different forms of elder abuse, which can make it difficult for family members and friends to have the information they need about a particular kind of abuse. Our San Diego nursing home neglect attorneys can give you more information. The following are some of the most important things to know about passive neglect.

Passive Neglect is Not Usually Intentional

The term “passive neglect” refers to a type of elder abuse where a resident of a nursing home or assisted living facility does not receive the type or amount of care they need, but it is not usually intentional. The National Council on Aging (NCOA) defines passive neglect as “a caregiver’s failure to provide an older adult with life’s necessities, including, but not limited to, food, clothing, shelter, or medical care.” Passive neglect frequently occurs when a nursing home is understaffed.

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Do nursing homes in Los Angeles County have the capacity to provide appropriate care to residents with mental illnesses, or are facilities that house large populations of residents with mental illnesses more likely to be sites where injuries arise out of nursing home negligence? According to a recent KQED podcast, while nursing homes are typically thought of as spaces for older adults who need assistance with care due to physical incapacitation or cognitive impairment, “a new LAist investigation finds that thousands of people with serious mental illness are living in California’s nursing homes,” and it could potentially be a violation of federal law. In addition, nursing homes with high rates of residents with mental illness could put other residents at risk of abuse or could take necessary care time away from residents who need assistance with various activities of daily living (ADLs).

What should you know about mental illness and nursing home negligence in Southern California? Our Los Angeles nursing home neglect lawyers can tell you more. 

Nursing Homes Not Designed to Care for Residents With Serious Mental Illness

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Many nursing home residents in Orange County and throughout Southern California, as well as at assisted living facilities in the area, require help with activities of daily living (or ADLs). Activities of daily living include things like getting dressed, bathing, using the bathroom, and eating. Help with ADLs does not need to be provided by a nurse, but families should be able to expect that their elderly loved ones will have the assistance with these activities that they need at any nursing home or assisted living facility in Orange County. When a facility is negligent or when an employee fails to adequately assist a resident with one of these ADLs, the resident can suffer serious and sometimes life-threatening injuries. When it comes to eating, there is a serious risk of choking among older adults who need assistance.

What do you need to know about choking hazards among older adults and facility liability for these injuries? Our Orange County nursing home neglect attorneys can say more. 

Choking Hazards and Older Adults

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Nursing home abuse and neglect in Orange County is more common than many people think, and some studies estimate that it impacts 10% or more of older adults. Indeed, according to the National Council on Aging (NCOA), one out of every 10 people aged 60 and older suffers some type of abuse each year, and some studies suggest that only about one out of every 24 cases of elder abuse is actually reported, which could mean that the rates of abuse and neglect are significantly higher than what we already know. Some signs of abuse or neglect may be more obvious than others, such as physical bruises or cuts or reports made by seniors who have experienced abuse. Yet as an article in U.S. News & World Report intimates, it is always important to think about signs and symptoms of abuse that may not be as obvious or transparent. Often, the way to learn about some of these issues is to ask questions. Our Orange County nursing home neglect lawyers can tell you more.

When Nursing Home Abuse is Not Transparent

The article in U.S. News & World Report emphasizes that, more often than you might anticipate, “there are harsh secrets in nursing homes” that frequently include “resident neglect or abuse.” As that piece underscores, the COVID-19 pandemic worsened safety and health issues that were already present in many nursing homes in California and across the country as those facilities failed to implement effective infection control measures or to address the effects of isolation and emotional neglect. Yet often, these kinds of issues will only be known to prospective residents or to current residents’ family members if they ask. 

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Nobody wants to think about the risks of nursing home abuse in Riverside County or elsewhere in Southern California, but nursing home abuse and neglect do occur with relative frequency and can result in debilitating and life-threatening injuries among older adults. When you have an elderly loved one in a nursing home in Riverside County or anywhere else in the area, it is important to know about common signs and symptoms of abuse so that you can take steps quickly to stop the abuse and hold the facility accountable. Given that many family members visit elderly relatives in nursing homes during the holiday season, the early days of the new year are a good time to assess a loved one’s quality of life in their nursing home and to consider any signs of abuse or neglect.

Our Riverside County nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers can tell you more about some of the most common indicators of abuse and neglect in California nursing homes.

Unexplained Injuries

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When most of us think about nursing home abuse in San Bernardino County, we think about instances of physical abuse, emotional or psychological abuse, or even sexual abuse. Many people also know that passive neglect, which can result in serious resident harm, can lead to a nursing home abuse and neglect claim. Yet discussions about resident-to-resident abuse are less common. What should you know about resident-to-resident abuse in Southern California? The most important thing to know is that nursing homes have a duty to protect patients from injuries and to appropriately handle instances of abuse and neglect, even when the perpetrator is another resident. As such, similar to cases involving other forms of abuse, nursing homes may be liable for resident-to-resident abuse. Our San Bernardino nursing home abuse attorneys can provide you with more information.

Resident-to-Resident Mistreatment Can Take Many Forms

Resident-to-resident abuse or mistreatment is a form of nursing home abuse or neglect that is often overlooked. According to the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA), resident-to-resident abuse or mistreatment can be defined as “negative, often aggressive, interactions between residents in long-term care communities.” This type of abuse or mistreatment may include “physical, verbal, and sexual abuse,” and the NCEA emphasizes that it is “likely to cause emotional and/or physical harm.”

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