Bad Nursing Home Care? Complain, Complain, Complain
Published on 2007/09/24News about nursing homes seemingly is always bad--poor care, overcrowding, staffing shortages and financial problems. NSCLC's nursing homes expert Eric Carlson examines the problem and offers a remedy in his latest post on the Talking Justice blog.
A recent article in the New York Times tells the story of a Florida nursing home resident who died after a large bedsore became infected by feces. Unfortunately, tales of poor care and neglect and other problems in nursing homes are far too common. Eric Carlson, an expert on nursing home law at the National Senior Citizens Law Center, examines the issue in his latest post on the Talking Justice blog.
...[A]fter a steady stream of reports, newspaper investigations and television exposes, why are so many nursing homes so bad, and why are the majority of nursing homes so predictably mediocre? Not to blame the victim, but a significant part of the problem lies with the general public’s unfamiliarity with long-term care generally and nursing homes specifically. The occasional intervention by an inspector or reporter cannot substitute for polite but insistent advocacy by a resident or a resident’s family member.
When a resident or family member encounters poor care or other problems at a nursing home, Mr. Carlson recommends they speak up:
Read the entire post on the Talking Justice siteI ordinarily don’t speak of residents “complaining” to a nursing home – “complain” undoubtedly has a negative connotation. But I’m embracing the word for this posting in order to emphasize the importance of conflict in the relationship between the nursing home and (on the other side) the resident and the resident’s family.
Currently, residents and their family members are much too timid. Hundreds of times – maybe thousands – I’ve been told that a resident or family member is afraid to raise a problem with a nursing home. The resident or family member is scared of retaliation, or is just intimidated by the situation. This timidity is why nursing homes are able to maintain illegal operating procedures. Consumers often are unwilling to speak up and, without consumer pressure, nursing homes cut corners and skimp on care.
Related Items
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