Personal Injury Law

Incidents of Emotional Abuse at Nursing Homes Increasing

By Kirk Bernard, Esq.

Incidents of nursing home negligence and abuse are hitting an all-time high in the United States. This is definitely a major concern. The news accounts get more and more disturbing. A recent news report says that a nursing home was fined after health investigators found several incidents of "widespread deficiencies," which could immediately put residents in jeopardy.

The 120-bed nursing home is facing a hefty fine after an investigation revealed that several residents were being abused. In fact, an employee told investigators that she saw two other employees mocking a resident who stuttered because that individual has Parkinson's disease. Another resident told investigators that an employee had threatened to strangle her.

What officials found turned out to be hardly surprising. The nursing home was chronically short-staffed and because employees were being over-worked, incidents of staff "burnout" and employees calling in sick have increased exponentially.

Full post as published by Seattle Injury Blog on December 17, 2009 (boomark / email).