Nursing Home Negligence: The Abuse Of Our Older Generation

By Sharron Cantu


The elderly are not always able to regulate their lifestyle properly, and some of them may need assistance in doing so. Usually, their families are tasked with the care of the aged relative. But sometimes the family can't or won't take on that role, and instead they arrange accommodation for the older person in a nursing home. If they do this, they should take note of potential Nursing Home Negligence.

The family does not always choose to put their relative in a home for ulterior or hostile reasons. Their own circumstances may be such that they are genuinely not in a position to provide adequate care for an invalid or incapacitated individual. This may be as a result of employment requirements or other household arrangements, particularly if the older person needs continuous help in even basic tasks. The presence of a dementia or Alzheimer's patient may also be too taxing for them to cope with.

Leaving a relative with strangers, even if they are formally contracted to care for the person, is emotionally difficult. There are, however, also those residents who have been deserted in the institution. Even so, despite the reason for their presence there, the elderly in residential homes are defenceless against crime and abuse.

Nursing homes are sometimes associated with the latter, particularly the theft of private property or presents left by visiting relatives. Residents who for physical or mental reasons struggle to perform basic daily tasks pertaining to hygiene or nutrition are particularly at risk. They may also be unable to raise their concerns.

The staff who work in such institutions may suffer from low professional motivation. This may be caused by the poor physical or psychological status of people in their care. In order to take care of elderly or bedridden patients, one needs to be extremely patient and also immaculately professional. Some staff may believe that older people serve no purpose in society, so that they are less deserving of protection by the law. Some of the residents never have family or friends visiting them. Others might be addressed in an insolent fashion by staff or instructed to keep quiet about sources of tension and unhappiness.

The community does not consistently pay attention to the elderly in its midst, so that negligence is difficult to draw attention to. Older people do not have jobs and they are not present at community gatherings, so they reside in obscurity. Residents of homes have no private transport and may not even be physically able to leave their rooms. Their frailty makes it hazardous for them to leave the premises unassisted.

The indignity resulting from negligence is terrible, and is a source of outrage in society. The elderly are traditionally respected, not abused. Where their rights, both legislated and customary, have been violated in this way, the law of the state of California makes civil procedures available to the afflicted family in Hammond LA.

The elderly have an important role to play in the community through their experience of life and their accumulated wisdom. They warrant a consistently respectful attitude. Caring for them is thus a serious responsibility, and one which should always be met adequately.




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