Abuse In Nursing Homes

Pressure ulcers continue to be a prevalent issue in the health care system and causes “pain, slow recovery from morbid conditions, infection and death” (Kwong, Pang, Aboo, & Law, 2009, p. 2609). In the field of nursing turning and repositioning patients is a well-known nursing intervention to prevent development of pressure ulcers. However, many hospitals and facilities still neglect to apply this as a standard policy. This gives room for nurses and nursing aides to overlook the importance of this intervention resulting in increased pressure ulcer development. The purpose of turning and repositioning patients is to prevent oxygen

When you hear the words, “Nursing Home”, what comes to mind? Sad, helpless, elderly individuals? The smell of urine? An overall, unpleasant place to reside in? Unfortunately, this generic description is accurate amongst majority of the nursing home facilities across the United States. More often than not, the elderly suffer from inhumane living conditions while residing in a nursing facility. Quite often we hear stories on the news about cases of elder abuse in the nursing home and we automatically think physical, mental, or emotional abuse from caregivers. However, the fact that these individuals are also living amongst unsanitary, inhumane conditions, and ran by a staff that includes

Although it does not usually make news headlines and is rarely discussed, nursing home residents and the elderly experience abuse sometimes on a daily basis. Medical errors, physical abuse, or stealing from them could all be classified as abuse. All around the world today, a population that is not able to help itself is being harmed, whether it is physical or sexual abuse, exploitation, or not being properly supervised; the elderly and nursing home residents are being abused.

Do you have a loved one in a nursing home? Imagine if your grandma, grandpa, aunt, uncle, mom, dad or other loved one was being abused. How would this make you feel? Abuse does not necessarily mean physical abuse (hitting, scratching, pulling hair, etc.). Other types of abuse include sexual, neglect, exploitation, emotional, abandonment, and self-neglect.

With over 1.5 million elderly and dependent adults now living in nursing homes throughout the country, abuse and neglect has become a widespread problem. Even though some nursing homes provide good care, many are subjecting helpless residents to needless suffering and death. Most residents in nursing homes are dependent on the staff for most or all their needs such as food, water, medicine, toileting, grooming- almost all their daily care. Unfortunately, many residents in nursing homes today are starved, dehydrated, over-medicated, and suffer painful pressure sores. They are often isolated, ignored and deprived of social contact and stimulation. Because of insufficient and poorly trained staff commonly found in

As the healthcare system in this country has changed, so have traditional nursing homes. Families have the right to expect that their loved ones will be taken care of by professionals in a caring environment. Unfortunately, may people are being abused and neglected in nursing homes. It is very clear that abuse is a serious problem among nursing home patients, and something needs to be done to put a stop to it.

Placing your loved one in a nursing home can be a difficult decision, but sometimes it's necessary if you're unable to care for them at home. You want to trust the nursing facility gives the best of care, but sometimes that's not the case. It's a good practice to check your loved one frequently at various times of the day and keep watch for signs of neglect and abuse. Here are some of the signs that your loved one could be mistreated.

As our population ages there are more individuals who are relying on the assistance and the care from others in order to perform tasks throughout their day. With this reliance on other individual’s assistance the elderly population is at an increased rate of experiencing a form of abuse from their caregiver. Children or a spouse are often found to be the abuser for elderly individuals who are still living in the community setting (DeLiema, Navarro, Enguidanos, &Wilber, 2015). This is becoming a growing concern, as it is estimated that around 10% of the United States elderly population is currently or has experiences at least one form of abuse. The forms of abuse that can occur include physical, sexual, psychological or emotional, financial

Elderly abuse is no longer the “quite as kept” family secret. Due to the economic pressures of families reuniting to make ends-meat and the medical treatment with improved diets, which adds to the length of life contributes to family stressors. These stresses may present themselves in the form of sexual, physical, psychological, emotional and fiscal abuse.

Elder abuse has sadly become progressively more prevalent, yet still highly underestimated across Canada. Unfortunately, there is still little to no gaining of recognition in recent years on the subject matter, with either increased campaigning or research, leaving many older adults discriminated against and neglected by the public as well as by their loved ones. With older adults having a higher susceptibility to abuse, especially since they are classified as vulnerable individuals, many are often found abused in their own home, in relatives’ home or in health care facilities. This paper provides an overview of how our society deals with the social injustice of elder abuse in reference to older adults and within the Canadian health care system,

Millions of people wish there was a magic pill to stay young and healthy forever, but we all know that’s just an illusion. Many people are being compelled to depend on others for twenty four hour care as their health fails them. Taking care of people should be a privilege to caregivers and they should show the utmost respect to whom they are caring for at the time. Family members may have a hard time placing their loved ones in a nursing home due to the fact that they may not receive the proper care they are entitled to. Among different people they have experienced personal problems while staying in different nursing homes. Neglect and abuse are the top problems, some residents face when they have to reside in a nursing home. There

The authors concluded that pressure ulcers will be reduced if patients, 65 years and older repositioned every three hours, using 30° tilt. Pressure ulcers are very common, costly, and preventable. It affects the patients negatively. One of the factors that predisposes to the development of pressure ulcers is immobility. It remains a problem, but the problem is preventable, so the author stated that it is now time to reconsider this prevention practice to reduce this preventable problem in the health care

Pressure ulcer results due to prolonged pressure on the skin and underlying tissues between a bony area and peripheral surfaces like sheets and mattresses cause resistance for prolonged time periods. Persistent moisture due to incontinent episodes is another factor in developing a pressure ulcer. Prevention of pressure ulcer has been a greater distress of the healthcare industry. It affects patient’s lifespan and it is a grander concern for the hospital as the treatment of a pressure ulcer is way expensive. Particularly patients in ICU, with paralysis, and elderly population are at much greater risk to develop a pressure ulcer due to the incapability to reposition by themselves. Additionally, patients with poor and insufficient diet are also at greater risk for acquiring pressure ulcers.

Hi Adrianne, I agree with your post, which defined very well concerning physical abuse. It is heart wrenching to know that someone finds pleasure in abusing the helpless or the vulnerable population. Elderly abuse has been found in more forms one in particularly is physical. I work at a hospital and we do not have to guess where some elderly come from because of the soaked wet diapers, the patient’s yelling and screaming, bedsores, and poor hygiene. Many elderly adults are abused in their own homes, in relatives’ homes, and even in facilities responsible for their care. According to NIH (2017), many older people are victims of elder abuse. It is the mistreatment of an older person, usually by a caregiver. It can happen within the family. It

I am highly touched and encouraged by your experience with the elderly and enthusiasm that you demonstrate in doing it. We honestly need people like you with open mind heart to provide care and service befitting senior citizen. Like you said, it is very disheartening to hear reports of abuse and the stereotypical behaviors towards the aged at places that are supposedly meant to provide excellent care and proper treatment. There are numerous contributing factors to this inhumane treatment of the elderly. Abuse of elders takes many different forms, some involving intimidation or threats against the elderly, some involving neglect, and others involving financial trickery. However, I see here is nothing more than what Berger (2010) described