For decades, serious concerns have been raised about resident abuse and neglect in U.S. nursing homes. In a series of blog posts, Adam Graves, partner at Langdon & Emison, addresses several issues that impact the quality of care at nursing homes and offers tips for finding safe nursing home options.
According to Graves, inadequate staffing is often to blame when nursing home abuse and neglect occurs. Increasingly, nursing home residents have more complex health issues that can cause their conditions to change suddenly, yet nursing homes lack registered nurses (RNs) and other qualified staff to determine the best course of action for treatment – decisions that often have to be made within minutes.
“Nursing homes are severely lacking in around-the-clock RN coverage, and federal regulations only require nursing homes receiving Medicare and/or Medicaid funding to have an RN on staff 8 hours, 7 days a week,” wrote Graves. “In addition to low RN staffing, nursing homes are consistently understaffed.”
In his own practice, Graves has handled numerous cases where low staffing levels vastly contributed to resident abuse and neglect. He tells the story of one case here.
But, Graves contends that careful research can be an important tool for safeguarding a loved one from nursing home abuse. In his blog, he identifies resources for evaluating nursing homes and outlines a series of steps to follow when researching nursing homes, including ways to assess staffing levels.
Graves has represented victims of nursing home abuse and their families for more than a decade. His blog posts on nursing home abuse can be found onThe Kansas City (Mo.) Legal Examiner. He also can be seen discussing ways to identify and prevent nursing home abuse here.
About Adam Graves
Attorney Adam Graves is a partner at Langdon & Emison. An experienced trial attorney, Adam represents clients in personal injury litigation throughout the United States. His practice focuses on complex personal injury and product liability claims involving defective auto and consumer products as well as nursing home abuse litigation.
About Langdon & Emison
Langdon & Emison is recognized as one of the nation’s leading personal injury law firms. For more than 30 years, our attorneys have dedicated their practice to representing people who have been injured or lost loved ones in nursing home abuse cases and other instances of negligence. For more information about nursing home abuse, visit our online Nursing Home Abuse Guide or contact Langdon & Emison at 866-931-2115. We will review your case at no cost or obligation to you.