When you send your loved one to a nursing home, you expect that they will receive just as excellent—if not better—care as they would at your home. Unfortunately, elderly abuse is an ugly issue that plagues many nursing homes, and many families are constantly worrying that they are leaving their loved ones in incapable hands.
As you are researching nursing homes to move your family member to, you should be aware of what kind of nursing home staff training is required and what reasonable training looks like.
PROVIDE REASONABLE CARE TO PATIENTS
Nursing homes have a legal obligation to provide reasonable care to nursing home residents. So, what does reasonable training look like? What does reasonable nursing home staff training include? Typically, you can expect that reasonable training will include:
- Training on a nursing home’s policies and procedures. This training should include procedures on medication when to escalate a situation and call a doctor, and how to keep medical records.
- Training on what to do during an emergency. This could be a medical emergency with a patient or an emergency at the nursing home such as a fire.
- Training on how to care for specific medical conditions for all nursing home residents. Many patients in a nursing home may have diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, or dementia, and each staff member should be well versed in how to care for a patient who has one or more conditions.
- Training on how to avoid common accidents such as slipping and falling.
If staff members of a nursing home aren’t trained or are only partially trained on important aspects of the job, such as how to administer medication or what to do during an emergency, this could potentially cause a nursing home resident to suffer from injuries that are easily prevented with proper training.
WHAT TO DO IF LACK OF STAFF TRAINING WAS THE CAUSE OF AN ELDERLY PERSON’S INJURIES
Elderly abuse cases are often difficult to spot, and in some cases, your loved one may hesitate to tell you what’s happening (or may not have the capability to understand they’ve been abused or neglected). Because family members aren’t around 100% of the time, it’s hard to know how the caretaker was behaving in your absence.
If you suspect that your loved one is being neglected due to a lack of staff training, then you need to take immediate action to remove them from the situation and report the abuse to the authorities.
Do you have a family member or other loved one who has experienced neglect or abuse in a nursing home setting in Georgia? You’re going to need legal representation who can help you during this difficult and unsettling time to ensure that the negligent party is held responsible. Reach out to the Fry | Goehring today at (404) 948-3571 for more information on what your rights are and how to pursue legal action.
