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Neglect: The Silent Nursing Home Danger

It is estimated that nursing home and medical care facilities provide homes to more than 1.5 million elderly people nationwide. That number is expected to grow exponentially in the next decade as millions of additional baby boomers grow older. The choice to live in a nursing home is a difficult decision for many elderly people and their families. Potential residents and family members may be concerned whether they or their loved ones will receive good, or even adequate, care. They may also be concerned about the countless reports of nursing home abuse that have been reported in the past few years.

A recent investigation into nursing home abuse conducted by CBS News revealed numerous disturbing findings. According to the report, instances of nursing home neglect were highly prevalent in nursing homes across the country and accounted for one half of all nursing home deaths and injuries. Neglect is often difficult to detect because there may be very few signs of its existence. However, instances of malnutrition, dehydration, bedsores and infections caused by neglect are common.

The CBS News investigation included an interview with a woman who had made the difficult decision to place her elderly mother in a nearby nursing home facility since she could no longer provide the care that her mother needed. The woman was comforted by the fact that the nursing home facility was close enough that she was able to visit her mother everyday. Unfortunately, the elderly resident’s heath rapidly deteriorated once she moved into the facility until she eventually slipped into a coma and died shortly thereafter.

According to the news interview, emergency room doctors that treated the elderly woman shortly before her death concluded that the woman was grossly dehydrated. The woman’s daughter believes that the nursing home is solely responsible for her mother’s death. It was not what the nursing home did, it was what they did not do, that allegedly led to the untimely death of the elderly woman.

To make matters worse, the faculty and staff at the nursing home had falsified the woman’s medical records and care charts. For example, one of the records in the woman’s file showed that she was alert and had received care on a date after the woman had died. According to the CBS News investigation, federal investigators have reportedly stated that “false charting” is a common practice in many nursing homes across the county. The believe that charts are not filled in as care is given, but rather, in some cases, staff members “update” the charts to make give the appearance the each of the residents are being well cared for.

Some sources have indicated that instances of neglect in nursing homes are largely caused by the fact that some facilities are drastically understaffed. Most individuals who reside in nursing home facilities are there because they are incapable of meting their own personal care needs. Failing to provide adequate staff members and caretakers means that many patients will suffer from nursing home neglect because they are getting the care that they need. As a result, many patients become ill, injured or may even suffer death because of malnutrition, dehydration, and neglect.



Michael S. Weisberg, P.C.
112 College Place
Norfolk, VA 23510
Phone: (757) 622-7740
Fax: (757) 533-9223
Toll Free: (800) 690-0235
Email: info@weislaw.com
www.weislaw.com