Inadequate Staffing at New York Nursing Homes Causes New York Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect

Nursing Home Negligence

New York Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Caused by Inadequate Staffing

Inadequate staffing at New York nursing homes is a huge problem.  Actually, it is a problem throughout the United States.  This is because nursing homes are a business and staffing is usually the highest expensive.  If a facility can cut costs by lowering staffing costs, it will breed a healthier bottom line.  But it will also breed a worse of nursing home population.  In fact, major studies have found that inadequate staffing at nursing homes lead to New York abuse and neglect.

This is because inadequate staffing creates two main issues.

How Does Less Medical Staff Mean Less Treatment Potential?

The most obvious issue with inadequate staff at a nursing home is that the fewer medical providers there are, the less medical care and treatment that nursing home residents receive.  Studies have directly correlated lower medical staff to poorer quality of care.  This means higher mortality rates.  Think about it: if a resident is suffering a heart attack, but the nurse is responsible for caring for 30 residents and not 10-15 residents, it will take the nurse 2-3 times LONGER to identify the resident having a heart attack and treat that resident.  It also means that if another resident is having a health issue, that nurse is now dealign with a major medical emergency that will consume all of his or her time for other patients.  Yikes!

What Happens When Staff Cannot Monitor All Residents?

A lack of staff means that there are not enough of them to watch residents that might wander, elope, and get hurt.  It also means that nursing home staff cannot monitor for resident abuse, such as by other residents who become aggressive or by criminal activity by staff or guests.  The failure to monitor also goes to the inability to monitor a resident’s food and water intake, as well as medication regimen.

Less staff simply means more problems and more injuries, those lower care.  Most times less nursing home staff is just a small sign of larger problems at a nursing home.  If you or a loved one have been injured at a New York nursing home, it is likely due to at least in part of poor staffing.  

Let Us Know if You Suffered Due to Inadequate Nursing Home Staffing

But what do you think?  I would love to hear from you!  Leave a comment or I also welcome your phone call on my toll-free cell at 1-866-889-6882 or you can drop me an e-mail at jfisher@fishermalpracticelaw.com.  You are always welcome to request my FREE book, The Seven Deadly Mistakes of Malpractice Victims, at the home page of my website at www.protectingpatientrights.com.