Nursing Homes Abuse

The United Kingdom is home to an ever growing elderly population; many of those people once over the age of 65 may require 24 hour care and this can be provided with the help of a good nursing home. Placing a loved one in to care is a tough decision and finding the right home with staff you can trust can be difficult. A lot of the time nursing homes must be taken at face value and you must place your faith in the staff to provide the right care for your friend or relative. Unfortunately, in some nursing homes abuse can be present and an increasing number of cases are being reported. These cases can be for thing such as:

• Physical abuse
• Malnutrition
• Pressure sores
• Mental abuse

Know how to spot signs of abuse is important when visiting a loved one in care, spotting signs of potential abuse can lead to a home being brought under investigation and cases brought against staff.

An organisation known as the Care Quality Commission (CQC) requires nursing homes to be registered to them. The CQC carry out thorough and regular checks to homes to make sure standards are being kept. Findings are accessible to the public and can be helpful when choosing a home as any form of nursing homes abuse will be documented.

Negligence

One form of nursing homes abuse is through negligence, this is when a home falls below set standards in the treatment, welfare, health and safety and services of residents. If the resident suffers injury due to any of these reasons then the home may be classed as negligent. Things that many be classed as negligent are:

• Failing to provide adequate treatment for resident who suffer from continence problems. This could be failure in help with toileting, skin care and the changing of clothing and bedding.
• Not providing enough food and water to a resident can lead to malnutrition or dehydration; these states can cause weakness and confusion or worse.
• Failure to assist residents in personal hygiene, such as helping residents with washing and bathing, brushing of teeth and grooming.
• Inadequate medical care such as the dispensing of correct medication and making sure that residents do not receive improper medication.
• Unsuitable living conditions, conditions for residents must always be clean, safe and decent.

Pressure Sores

A popular form of nursing homes abuse complaints is that of pressure sores or bed sores. These occur on the elbows, hips, feet, spine and tailbone in the form of pinking of the skin or worse a wound that extends through the bone. They are a common cause to patients who are confined to a chair or bed and nursing homes abuse factors such as these ones can easily be prevented.

• The patient must be moved to a different position every two hours
• The must be helped to follow a good skin care routine
• The use of items that can reduce pressure caused by bed sheets
• Giving the patient a well-balanced diet.