Nursing Home Attorney | Supervision is Part of Nursing Home Care

Supervision is Part of Nursing Home Care

Many of the stories that are published about nursing home abuse neglect bring the reader's attention the fact that the residents sometime constitute threats to one another and that proper supervision has to be maintained at the facility to ensure everybody's safety. Abuse in nursing home environments doesn't always manifest from the staff. In some cases, the staff simply fails to intervene when residents are abusing each other and the results can be deadly for the residents who are being abused.

Bullying, Harassment and Violence

Even though elderly people are generally not a physical threat to people who are younger and healthier, they can constitute a serious threat to one another. A recent case in Vermont, reported by VTDigger.org, details the fact that two homicides of elderly individuals occurred in nursing homes. In one incident, an 89-year-old woman was killed by another resident who slammed her head into a wall, according to the report. Another patient was crushed to death by one of their fellow residents.

The residents in nursing homes oftentimes have cognitive impairments, are prone to emotional outbursts and not all residents suffer the same level of physical deterioration. In some cases, a resident may be not all there mentally but very capable physically. If that resident is not properly supervised and they are prone to emotional outbursts, they can constitute a threat to their fellow residents; one that can prove deadly, in some cases.

Nursing home staff has an obligation to keep an eye on patients to make certain that everything is going smoothly between all of them. When they fail to do so, they put all of the patients at risk. To make certain that your loved one is in a nursing home where adequate supervision is provided, it's good to stop in once in a while and it's absolutely necessary to maintain communication with your loved one so you can make certain that they are being cared for and that they are not being threatened or bullied by other residents.

If you find yourself in a situation where your loved one has been the victim of harassment or bullying by other residents in a nursing home facility and where the staff never intervened to put it to a halt, you may want to speak to an attorney about nursing home negligence. If your loved one was injured because of this, you may be able to be compensated via a lawsuit.