3 Features To Look For In A Nursing Home To Ensure The Safety Of Your Loved One
In America, there are about 1.8 million elderly residents who live in a nursing home facility. Unfortunately, reports to nursing home abuse lawyers that these residents are not properly cared for are more common than most people expect. If you have an elderly relative in a nursing home, this is a scary possibility to face. You will likely want to take every step to ensure your loved one gets the proper care and kindness as a patient. Here are a few features to look for in a nursing home facility to ensure the safety of your loved one.
The nursing home facility has a widespread surveillance system.
For many years, surveillance was not a typical part of a nursing home facility in all areas. However, with incidences of elder abuse and neglect more prevalent in modern times, many nursing homes have implemented surveillance cameras in their facilities. Surveillance keeps employees accountable for their actions because they are being more closely monitored.
The nursing home facility is well staffed for the number of patients in the facility.
Nursing home abuse and neglect are often directly related to short staffing. There are a few reasons why this is sometimes the case, including:
- Short-staffed facilities don't have as many employees overseeing other employees
- Short staffing puts current employees under more stress to fulfill their duties
- Short-staffed facilities are less likely to notice when a patient is neglected or injured by an employee
There are a few ways you can determine how well staffed a nursing home is. One way is to spend some time in the facility and pay careful attention to how present staff members are in general through different shifts. However, you can also simply ask how well staffed the facility is or if they have problems keeping positions filled.
The nursing home facility properly vets and trains their employees.
If you want a nursing home that is less likely to give you problems with the care of your loved one, look for those that have the most astringent hiring and training policies for their employees. Employees with a background in elder care, proper on-the-job training, and clean backgrounds are preferred in nursing home facilities, but not all facilities follow these guidelines when they do bring in new staff members. There is nothing wrong with asking the nursing home administrator about their hiring policies and even do your own research into their policies.