The number of senior citizens who are moving into nursing homes is increasing. While this is good news for these facilities, it brings up an important question. How will the increase in occupancy impact the safety of the residents? There are many aspects to this question that have to be considered for each facility because the answer isn’t the same across them all.
Nursing homes need to ensure that their resident-to-staff ratio is appropriate for the level of care the residents need. This isn’t going to be the same for every nursing home, and it can change from one area of the facility to another. Residents who need more care will need a lower number of individuals being cared for by each nurse.
One thing that residents and their loved ones need to watch for is a decrease in the quality of care as the occupancy rate increases. There is a chance that some nursing homes will balk at having to hire more employees to handle the rise in occupancy. Instead, they’ll see that increase as a way to increase the facility’s revenue.
If you notice that the staff members aren’t taking care of residents in the way they should, you might decide to look into the ratio that’s being followed. Signs that care is suffering include residents having to wait longer than normal for assistance, cleaning tasks going undone, charting being delayed and services that should be provided not being offered.
Negligence in assisted living facilities isn’t ever acceptable. Getting the behavior to stop is a top priority. In some cases, this might require legal action, which is subjected to time limits, so get your case moving forward today.
