Concerned about Virginia nursing home abuse & neglect?

If you have had to make the difficult decision to put a loved on into a Virginia nursing home or long-term care facility, you know all about the anxiety of making sure you don’t pick a “bad” facility.

Some factors to take into consideration when selecting a nursing home are listed below.  If your loved one is already in a nursing home facility, you can use this list to see if you missed anything in your initial investigation.

1. Do the other residents look happy and well cared for?
2. Is the facility clean and orderly?  How about the patient rooms?
3. Are there any strange or unfamiliar odors in the facility?
4. Do the staff members interact well with the residents?  Are they friendly?
5. Does the facility perform background checks on all employees?
6. What is the staff to patient ratio?  (You’ll want to know if the ratio varies on weekends, holidays, or at night – times when residents are at risk of receiving substandard care).
7. If the home had any deficiencies noted on its last inspection report (which you should read), what is being done to address them?

You can find a wealth of information about nursing home abuse and neglect in our law library.  Articles include “Speaking up when you fear nursing home abuse or neglect”, “Majority of Virginia Nursing Homes have Deficiencies in Care”, “Signs of elder abuse, neglect, or exploitation” and more.