Why Caregivers Are Neglecting And Abusing Residents

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).

The challenge America now faces is the number of people reaching retirement will double in number by 2030, and the U.S. population will increase almost 20 percent ("Our Aging Nation," 2015). The goal is for the elderly to maintain and live with independence and dignity, as well as, provide a wide range of professional health and social service expertise, home care, and residential support and services that will be needed ("Our Aging Nation," 2015). Since the number of caregivers needed for this population will not be able to meet the demands other resolutions are considered necessary.

It is very important that Certified Nurses and Certified Nurse Assistants are following the resident rights and the company’s professional values and ethics so that they are able to work as well as possible from day to day without compromising themselves, other residents, or the facility that they work within. Over attachment is one problem that is very important to stay away from. When a caregiver gets overly attached to a specific patient, he or she can as a result end up hurting their career, the resident they are working with as well as others, and the facility that they work in. It is important that caregivers are seen as the professional in the patient-caregiver relationship and are meant to keep only a therapeutic relationship with the patient (Professional Boundaries, 2008).

330). Over 36% of nursing home’s staff reported having witness abuse of their facility’s residents (Hillier & Barrow, 2011, p. 330). This abuse included employing excessive restraints; pushing, grabbing, kicking, or shoving patients; or throwing things at them (Hiller & Barrow, 2011). In reference to the situational model provided by theological explanations of elder abuse, abuse is due to the problem of caregiving; high levels of stress and burden of caregiving increase mistreatment and neglect of the frail elder (Hillier & Barrow, 2011, p. 329). This also relates to the term “caregiving distress”, which indicates the negative stresses of caretaking, including role strain, subjective burden, depression, anxiety, hostility, and other troublesome emotions. Such feeling may cloud one’s judgement or unconsciously misdirect their actions (Hillier & Barrow, 2011, p. 307). I am not making an excuse for their unethical behavior but at the end of the day these workers are just people with feeling who have different ways of showing them, whether it be through good or bad actions. Instead of having employees working in such conditions, Emeritus should provide a better working environment by increasing the staff to patient ratio and relieving the stress of caretaking of a high number of

In the U.S, one in four will be aged 60 years and older by 2050 (U.S. Census Bureau). This represents an overwhelming number of people who will either be in the caretaker role or be the ROC. Like today, most of the care will be provided by informal unpaid caregivers. The number of informal unpaid caregivers is expected to rise from 20 million in 2000 to 37 million in 2050 (Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation [ASPE], 2003). Because of the burden of care giving, many caregivers will experience depression, poor health and quality of life (Etters, Goodall, & Harrison, 2008). Their well-being is an important public health concern.

In a profession where others' health and well-being are priority, there leaves room for neglect of those who are delegated to care for these people. As a professional nurse, there are many obstacles that arise and affect the care provided to a patient, as well as the livelihood of the nurse. The current deteriorating and unsafe staffing conditions in hospitals and other institutions prompts workplace advocacy as the universally appropriate concept for maintaining professional nursing practice.  Common

The issue of elder abuse and neglect is a significant health care issue, that need to be brought to the attention of society. Seniors who stay at home or in nursing homes are at more risk. Nurses should be aware of the signs and symptoms as well as resources in the community. By having a better understanding of these issues, nurses can recognize problems and help prevent the devastating effects of elderly abuse.

Is it worth putting your loved ones in a nursing home facility? According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Each year, hundreds of thousands of adults over the age of 60 are abused, neglected, or financially exploited.” Family members of an elderly person might assume that because they are paying such a large amount of money for assistance and a room in the facility, that they’re getting the best treatment and care for their relative. Although one might believe their loved ones would be better off in a nursing home, they might be putting them at a greater risk of abuse due to understaffing, lack of training within the staff, neglect, nurse burnout, and low wages. 2,150,000 cases

Neglect occurs when a health professional, carer or family member fails to provide the level of support or care that that person needs. This neglect can be deliberate or as a result of ignorance of required standards and practices. Again this neglect can result in the failure to meet the person’s physical, medical, nutritional, educational, emotional or social needs.

One thing every living organism has in common on this planet-- age. No one wants to age or face the fact that aging is inevitable. However, since it’s impossible to beat the never ending time clock that is life; everyone wants to be as comfortable as possible when age finally does catch up with them. When the majority of people think of comfortability in old age, they think of living in their own homes and being surrounded by their loved ones. Not many individuals want to be placed into a nursing home type facility because they can’t imagine themselves being comfortable that way. Nonetheless, even though being placed in a home does take away some of an elderly person’s independence, usually the independence lost is in activities that person can no longer do for themselves. Indeed, nursing homes do have their own set of scary stories behind them; life lost, independence lost, and privacy lost, yet many of those stories are outdated. Upon investigation, it would be easy for anyone to scare themselves out of a nursing facility due to the stories that are out there. Yet, upon even further research people would be able to see how far the United States has come in their development and evolution of nursing care facilities. The care of the elderly in the form of nursing homes has faced a tough evolution starting off with a harsh past, to what nursing homes are like now, and what people can expect for the future of these homes.

Seeing first-hand the neglect of patients by distracted nurses is disturbing. One day, at the beginning of my shift as a nurse’s aide at a long term care facility, call lights were going off and a patient was screaming for help as I hurried to the room. Immediately, I saw the privacy curtain pulled back, revealing a semi-dressed patient. Her adult diaper was soaked through and had leaked onto her gown and bed. I rushed to her bedside and attempted to clean up as fast as I could, but there were no gloves or linens nearby. I was forced to leave this traumatized lady to go search for much needed supplies and another set of helping hands. As we came back into the room with supplies to provide patient care, I

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.

They found that the daily interaction with residents is very limited which make isdifficult to properly complete the tasks they are assisting with in a quality manner. One Assistantreported that “we’re not enough to provide quality care so we’re asked to take good care ofresidents; we try to but were just not enough, the service we provide is too kept to a minimum.” Ithink these key points are very important to healthcare role, I think that if you are training to bein the healthcare field you should know the importance of taking training seriously and thingsshould be done in a quick but timely manner. I would agree with this article and the nurseassistants who voiced their opinions on how caring more about the residents and properly

One way elder abuse or elder mistreatment can be defined is, “intentional actions that cause harm or create a serious risk of harm, whether or not intended, to a vulnerable elder by a caregiver or other person who stands in a trust relationship to the elder” (Bonnie & Wallace). There are seven main forms of elder abuse which include emotional, physical, psychological, sexual, financial, neglect, abandonment, and self-neglect (Cohen, Levin, Gagin & Friedman, 2007; Fulmer, 2008; Thompson & Priest, 2005). Even though only 6.2% of victims are abused in long-term care settings, my experience of witnessing neglect and abandonment are very serious (Teaster et al., 2006).

Is Your Loved One Being Verbally Abused In a Nursing Home? When the difficult decision is made to put your elderly loved one into a nursing home, it is done with expressed assurance that he or she is going to receive compassionate and professional care. Unfortunately, some nursing homes fail to adequately screen the individuals they hire as nurses or caretakers and consequently, employees with bad judgement may find themselves in a position to take advantage of an elderly patient.