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COVID-19 is a serious threat to nursing home residents, but the increase in deaths in these facilities may be linked to more than the virus itself. Indeed, nursing home deaths may be exacerbated by neglect during the pandemic.
Many nursing home residents are at a high risk for COVID-19 complications due to their age or pre-existing conditions such as heart disease, obesity, autoimmune disease, and more. During the pandemic, residents and their families may have been plagued with anxiety over their risk for developing COVID-19.
Though newly available vaccines can help assuage these worries, nursing home residents may still be at risk for another deadly issue: nursing home neglect.
COVID-19 has claimed the lives of more than 142,000 nursing home residents during the global pandemic, per data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) as of late January 2022. Fortunately, the rate of vaccinations in nursing home residents is high — approximately 86%. However, the coronavirus itself is not the only additional risk facing nursing home residents during this pandemic.
Although it has received less attention, nursing home neglect may have claimed the lives of thousands more, per the Associated Press.
Nursing home abuse occurs whenever a staff member takes advantage of residents, making them victims of physical, emotional, sexual, or financial abuse.
A less obvious but equally insidious problem is nursing home neglect.
This type of neglect occurs whenever staff members fail to meet the needs of residents. This can occur as a result of intentional neglect, understaffing, insufficient training, or any combination of these factors.
Residents who are neglected may suffer from a number of preventable but life-threatening consequences such as infections from poor hygiene, broken bones after being denied mobility assistance, bed sores due to a lack of attention, and more, according to NursingHomeAlert.com.
Nursing home neglect may have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. With thousands of nursing home residents and staff members falling ill with the virus, the needs of otherwise healthy residents may have slipped through the cracks.
“The healthcare system operates kind of on the edge, just on the margin, so that if there’s a crisis, we can’t cope,” University of California San Francisco professor Stephen Kaye at the Institute on Health and Aging told The Associated Press. “There are not enough people to look after the nursing home residents.”
Kaye analyzed data from around 15,000 nursing home facilities in the country and concluded that in the earlier part of the pandemic, for every two nursing home residents who died from COVID-19, another resident died from non-COVID-related causes, the analysis showed. According to Kaye, non-COVID deaths were more common in homes where at least 3 in 10 residents had the virus.
Filing a nursing home neglect lawsuit
If someone you love has been subjected to nursing home neglect, you may be able to file a lawsuit and pursue compensation. Bereaved family members may be left confused and heartbroken after the death of their loved one. Although legal action cannot bring back family members who have passed away, taking action against neglectful nursing homes can help families recover compensation for wrongful death.
Filing a lawsuit can be a daunting prospect, so Top Class Actions has laid the groundwork for you by connecting you with an experienced attorney. Consulting an attorney can help you determine if you have a claim, navigate the complexities of litigation, and maximize your potential compensation.
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17 thoughts onNursing home deaths surge — and not just from COVID, report says
My mother was placed in a nursing home to recover from knee surgery , without her family by her side she was abused there and was put into the hospital within 4 months with infections pneumonia and died alone
Add me
nursing home killed my grandmother.
Add me
My mom had to go after she got out of the hospital for rehabilitation. . After the transporters dropped her off. They put her in a room alone in her wheel chair. For 6 HOURS THEY LEFT HER there alone. She had to go to the bathroom. She turned on her light and no one came, she yelled and screamed and no one came. She couldn’t call me because they didn’t have a phone close by. I kept calling her cell phone and couldn’t get an answer because they didn’t give her her stuff. When I called the director and complained he said it was because her light bulb had burned out above her door. She was a new pt, I would think they would need to check her in at some point!! To have some kind of introduction/orientation of some kind. I got her into a different nursing home as fast as possible for her rehab.
Exactly what do you expect staff to do? Limited resources equals limited care. Sorry that your loved ones are neglected, the most extreme preventative measures should be put in place to avoid Covid Infections that reduces the availability of staff.
Its the owners problem. Health care should NEVER be a for-profit business!
@Christina Looks like ya’ completely skipped over the part that stated it the study found covid was not the culprit of surging nursing home deaths– the key point in the article was that the research found patient’s in nursing homes are dying at significantly high rates not due to COVID issues because the vast majority of nursing home patients have been vaccinated. It is “nursing home neglect ” that patients are DYING. NURSING HOME NEGLECT.
It seemed your main concern was not the lives and health of patients but instead looking elsewhere for excuses to point the finger…Truth is that there is there is no excuse & in the end no escaping criminal and or civil liability for irresponsible, incompetent, negligent care and not to mention licencing violations and or licensure revoking for unethical practices etc. So perhaps instead of nursing homes always solely focusing on their bottom dollar like some sort of greedy MLM schemers they instead focus on patient care and hire and stop being greedy and just pay for the necessary staffing in order to keep these patients safe – they all receive generous government welfare funding not to mention the private insurance payments they receive and the guaranteed monthly payments made directly by the patients family or their estate, retirements, SSI, etc. And if any nursing home cannot afford to or capable of providing the highest of care then they do not need to be in the Business!
Exactly what do you expect staff to do? Limited resources equals limited care. Sorry that your loved ones are neglected, the most extreme preventative measures should be put in place to avoid Covid Infections that reduces the availability of staff.
I think my brother got Covid in the nursing home went to the hospital and die or either he caught it in the hospital
Nursing home let my mom die
Add me please my dad who had dimentia otherwise healthy died from COVID in a nursing home from neglect
Nursing home let my mom die Please add me