Nursing home residents count on the staff members to handle their needs. When the workers neglect their duties, the residents can suffer great harm. It is critical that anyone who has a loved one living in a nursing facility pay close attention to what’s going on, so they can help to stop neglect in its tracks.
Some nursing home residents are able to advocate for themselves, but this isn’t always the case. Individuals who have dementia and other similar conditions might not have the communication or comprehension skills needed to deal with negligence. This makes it hard for them to stop it.
Dementia patients will often have trouble thinking of the words they need to let someone know what’s going on. Unscrupulous workers might take advantage of this and treat the person poorly just because they know that the resident won’t be able to tell anyone what’s going on.
Because nursing home negligence doesn’t always lead to physical signs, you have to watch closely for behavior changes that signal something is wrong. You might notice that the person seems more withdrawn or sullen. If they have dementia, it can be hard to determine whether this is from disease progression or because of mistreatment.
If you think that a loved one isn’t being treated properly in a nursing home, you might need to visit more often and unannounced so that you can keep an eye on things. Taking immediate action to stop neglect or downright abuse is critical to helping to keep your loved one safe and as healthy as possible. In some cases, legal action might be in order.
