Nursing home residents often have underlying health conditions, some of which impact the immune system. Because of this and the fact that these residents live in close quarters, infection control must be a priority in these facilities.
According to News4Jax, there have been 52 nursing homes only in the northeastern region of Florida that have been cited for lax infection control measures within the last three years. Each of these cases has the potential of becoming dangerous or even deadly for the residents. The lowered immunity that these residents have doesn’t allow any room for trying to skirt around the proper protocols.
While some of the infection control measures that nursing homes use are minor, such as disinfecting doorknobs, others are very serious. In one of the cases that occurred during the three-year period, a staff member didn’t clean a blood glucose measuring device. This can easily transmit infectious components from one resident to the next.
In order to protect the residents of nursing facilities, staff members must be held to high standards. This includes everything from following proper handwashing procedures and sanitizing linens properly to managing viral outbreaks when illnesses like influenza are present within the community.
Unfortunately, some nursing facilities just don’t do enough to keep residents safe. This type of neglect can lead to considerable harm. Residents who are impacted by lax infection control measures may end up hospitalized or need considerable medical care. They might suffer financial harm because of it, so they may opt to pursue a claim for compensation to help defray the damages.
