California Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog
When most of us think about finding a nursing home in the San Francisco Bay Area for an elderly parent or grandparent, it is important to visit the facility and to get a sense of the space — the response times of staff members to resident needs, the cleanliness of the facility, and more. In visiting a facility or otherwise choosing a nursing home, it is critical to know that many injuries and illnesses that result from abuse or neglect are not intentional. Indeed, issues such as understaffing and high turnover can result in residents failing to receive the level of care they need based on their physical and mental health. Yet even unintentional harm is harm for which the facility is often liable.
How does unintentional neglect result in Oakland nursing home injuries? Consider the following information.
Understanding Unintentional Neglect and How It Affects Nursing Home Residents
Unintentional neglect, or passive neglect as we will explain below, frequently occurs due to understaffing. Nobody intends for a resident to suffer an injury or for an infection to occur and worsen, but there are not enough staff members to provide the necessary amount of care that each resident requires.
What types of injuries often result from unintentional neglect?
- Broken bones and traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) from falls, which often occur when a resident does not have the assistance they need with mobility or activities of daily living, such as bathing or dressing;
- Bed sores, which occur when residents with mobility issues remain in one position for too long;
- Choking injuries, which can happen when a resident needs assistance with or monitoring during meal times and does not receive it; and
- Sepsis, which can result from an infection going untreated for too long.
Bay Area Nursing Home Liability for Passive Neglect
We want to be very clear that, even though a nursing home or its staff members may not intend any type of harm to come to residents, injuries, infections, and other harms that occur as a result of neglect are all harms for which the facility can be liable. Nursing homes have to provide a requisite level of care to residents, and the failure to do so, even when it is unintentional, does not remove liability.
It is often easier to understand this type of neglect or negligence as unintentional neglect, but when it is discussed in elder care settings, it is most often described as “passive neglect.” According to the National Council on Aging (NCOA), passive neglect is often defined as “a caregiver’s failure to provide an older adult with life’s necessities.” When a nursing home fails to provide the degree of care a resident needs, it can be held accountable through a passive neglect claim against the facility.
Contact an Oakland Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Attorney for Help Filing a Passive Neglect Lawsuit Against a Facility in the Bay Area
Do you have concerns about an elderly loved one’s health or safety around the possibility of passive neglect in a Bay Area nursing home? Or has your elderly loved one suffered an injury or been diagnosed with an infection that you are concerned resulted from passive neglect? If so, it is important to seek legal advice from an Oak nursing home abuse and neglect lawyer who can help your family to determine the next steps to take in order to hold the facility accountable and to help obtain compensation for your elderly loved one’s injuries. Contact the California Nursing Home Law Group today for more information about filing a passive neglect claim in Northern California.
See Related Blog Posts:
At Least 11 Elderly Residents Rescued from Alleged Unlicensed Carson Care Homes
What Types of Aging-Related Injuries are Most Common in San Francisco Nursing Homes?
