Essay On Nursing Home Abuse

Choosing a long-term care facility can be very difficult because of incidents of abuse and/or neglect reported against care facilities can be overwhelming. For example in “Ending Elder Abuse: A family guide”, Diane Sandell lists many elder abuse incidents from her files such as: neglect of decubitis ulcers led to infection, sepsis, gangrene, and death. Facility failed to provide necessary diabetic diet; improper insulin administration, insulin overdose; dehydration and death. Resident left alone in chair in shower room fell, became paralyzed from neck down. Many reports of pinching, rough handling, slapping, yelling, threats (2000). It is believed that abuse is most likely to occur if the caregiver not only finds the work difficult but also (1) works full time, (2) cares for young children, (3) is poor, (4) feels little affection for the older person, (5) finds the elderly person very difficult, and (6) gets no support or help from others (Macionis, 2005). Although there is no excuse for abusing elderly Americans, it is still very prominent in today’s society. Diane Sandell explains in Ending Elder Abuse, that her 91 year old mother was beaten by a long-term care facility employee in the middle of the night for reasons unknown. It is stated that her mother died 6 weeks after the incident, unable to recover mentally from the abuse (2000).

Unfortunately, many residents in nursing homes today are being starved, dehydrated, over-medicated, and suffer painful sores. Often times they are isolated, ignored, and deprived from social contact and stimulation. Care givers are often overworked and grossly underpaid which often results in them showing rude and abusive behavior to the residents. “Studies have found that individuals in poor health are more likely to be abused than individuals who are in relatively good health. In addition, caregivers who are dependent on the elder financially are also more likely to perpetrate abuse” (De Benedictis, 2011). A simple request for such things as water or an escort to the bathroom may cause the care giver to respond in a rude and offensive way demonstrating inappropriate behavior. According to an article written by Bryan Robinson (2002), “Helen Love, a 75-year-old grandmother of three, looked into the video camera and told of being severely beaten by a nursing home caregiver who discovered she had soiled herself. He choked me and he went and broke my neck," said Love, who had to wear a metal halo in the videotaped deposition from July 1998. “He broke my wrist bones, in my hand. He put his hand over my mouth.” Two days later, Love died.

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

Everyday thousands of senior citizens and people with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia suffer from abuse by a caregiver. Most of the abuse is in the form of emotional or physical abuse, but there are also a number of different types of abuse including financial abuse. The abuse can either take place in a medical setting such as a nursing home or hospital, or it can also be done by the victim’s own family members. These senior citizens are mostly targeted due to the fact that they are mentally incapacitated; they do not have a very strong short term memory, and sometimes they do not have the ability to talk to another individual about how their caregiver has been abusing them.

Over all, there are many types of abuse, from physical abuse to rough living conditions, that elderly and nursing home residents experience quite often.

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.

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.

Over the years, elder people are being abused, mistreated, and exploited. These victims are people who are of age, weak, and hopeless who cannot defend themselves. Men and women are abuse by their caregivers, family, friends and etc. Elder abuse refer to any know mistreatment or negligent by any person that is causing harm or a serious risk of maltreatment to a hopeless adult. Elder abuse can take numerous forms such as emotional, physical, financial, neglect, sexual and etc. What are the signs of elder abuse and how many people are suffering from elder abuse in the U.S.? How can anyone tell if someone is being abusive? What should be done if someone suspect elder abuse?

Nursing home abuse takes place when nursing assistants, caregivers or employees in a nursing facility intentionally does something that can cause harm to adults who are weak and vulnerable. There are many different forms of nursing home abuse. There are mainly sociological and cultural issues, and most cases of elder abuse are usually caused by several factors. Some of these factors are: quality of the nursing home and its staff, the features and personal issues of family and nursing assistants and caregivers are also fundamental in deciding the essential causes of the abuse. Therefore, social-cultural forces determine how elderly people are cared for and treated by others. By understanding all these different causes that

Are nursing homes abusing and neglecting the elderly? The elderly are abused and neglected in society today by caregivers in nursing homes. Elder abuse or neglect is a single or repeated action occurring within any relationship where there is an overlook of trust which causes injury or distress to an older person.

With so many elderly people in nursing homes combined with the lack of nursing care available, abuse within nursing homes is more common than anyone would like to face. According to the CDC, as of 2014, there were only 15,600 nursing homes with the number of residents exceeding 1.4 million. They also report that for every case of elder abuse there are 23 cases that are not reported or that remain hidden from authorities. http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/elderabuse/consequences.html

To better understand the scope of the problem, it is crucial that society knows what is considered as elder abuse and why it is important to resolve this issue. Elder abuse refers to any intentional or negligent act by a caregiver or any other person that causes harm or a risk of harm to a vulnerable adult. There are many forms in which an elder can be abused, “Elder Abuse and Neglect” Journal of Psychosocial Nursing & Mental Health Services distinguishes between the five most common types of elder abuse as well as their effects and/or common signs and symptoms for each. These types of abuse include physical abuse,

A 2010 National ombudsman reporting system study revealed some alarming discoveries about elder abuse in nursing home facilities. Of all of the abuse reported, aside from patient on patient abuse, nursing home staff misconduct

It is so difficult to detect these incidents causing 1 out of 5 cases to go unreported. The victims of this abusive behavior not only have the unfortunate result of being scarred for the rest of their lives but they also will have a 300 percent increase in chance of death within the next three years than those who aren’t abused. Each year there are approximately 1 in 6 nursing home residents that may be victims of abuse or neglect. With just the small insight of the unsuitable statistics of abuse in geriatrics there are many reasons as to why they may occur, involving financial sufficiency regarding workers, equipment, and location, the background of the patient, and merely the inappropriate desire to affect someone's life negatively. In fact, a the U.S. General Accountability Office revealed that state regulators commonly miss signs of abuse.

Elderly abuse in nursing homes in America is an uprising issue. Elders make up a large portion of our population and they deserve the equality. This issue is very important because eventually this could affect you personally, or a loved one in your family. I stand for better environments in these nursing homes and find it terrible that elders get treated so poorly. The reason the number of reports on elder abuse has gone up so rapidly in the past decade is because the number of elders has drastically risen. There is an increase in the number of elders not only because Americans are living longer than ever before, but also because the next generation of senior citizens is larger than ever before. It has been predicted