Posted on September 15, 2022 in Nursing Home Abuse

Nursing home residents are often elderly and physically frail, causing them to easily fall victim to diseases and illnesses which are non-threatening in otherwise healthy populations. Illinois nursing homes must meet a high standard of care to make sure that elderly residents are not subjected to conditions that could cause serious illness or death, and–if dangerous conditions are present in a nursing home–that residents are immediately treated. If your loved one has suffered or died from gastroenteritis or another serious infection, contact an Illinois nursing home neglect attorney right away. 

What is Gastroenteritis? 

Gastroenteritis is a serious condition caused by viral and bacterial infections that irritate the stomach and intestines and cause them to become inflamed. Nursing home residents are four times more likely to die from gastroenteritis and are generally infected after being exposed to another infected person or contaminated food or water. Symptoms of gastroenteritis include: 

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 Posted on September 08, 2022 in Nursing Home Abuse

When you made the decision to place your loved one in the care of an Illinois nursing home, you likely had no idea that the facility would do anything other than conform to the highest standard of care. Unfortunately, many nursing homes suffer from chronic issues of understaffing and poor training that can have a severe impact on the quality of the care that residents receive. 

One of the most traumatic things that can happen to a family is receiving a call informing them that their parent, grandparent, or other loved one has been seriously injured in an accident in a nursing home. While some of these accidents are the inevitable result of aging bodies that struggle with mobility, others are the result of inadequate supervision, a dangerous environment, and even sometimes a result of abuse and neglect at the hands of nursing home staff. If you have gotten news that your loved one has been seriously injured at a nursing home, it is important to get details about the incident as soon as possible. An experienced Illinois nursing home injury attorney can help. 

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 Posted on August 31, 2022 in Nursing Home Abuse

Placing a loved one in the care of a nursing home or residential care facility can be one of the toughest choices a family makes. Trusting in management and staff to give your loved one the care they need and deserve can feel like a risky gambit, especially when stories of understaffed nursing homes are so common. The last thing you want to worry about is whether the basic conditions at your loved one’s nursing home are sanitary and safe. Yet when a nursing home is struggling to meet staffing requirements, proper sanitation is often one of the first signs that your loved one is being neglected and needs to be given urgent attention. If you are worried about the cleanliness of your parent or grandparent’s nursing home, trust your instincts and find out whether it is time to take action. 

Unsanitary External Conditions May Be a Sign of More Serious Dangers

When you visit your loved one in their nursing home and notice things just do not seem to be clean, take note. Nursing home residents are often elderly and immunocompromised, which can mean that exposure to bacteria, viruses, and other diseases can quickly become dangerous. If common areas like kitchens and bathrooms seem dirty, residents’ equipment may be unclean as well. Medical equipment, such as wheelchairs, oxygen tanks, and catheters, requires regular cleaning and sanitizing. Without careful sanitization, residents can fall victim to: 

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 Posted on August 17, 2022 in Neglect

Illinois nursing homes are responsible for providing their patients with everyday care and support. From feeding and cleaning to comfortable rest and intellectual enrichment, patients are often completely dependent on the staff in residential care facilities to meet their needs. Sadly, nursing homes are often not as diligent about providing excellent staff as they should be, leading to neglect and even abuse. 

One of the first places nursing home neglect often appears is in residents’ dental care. Regular dental care requires daily attention to minute details. Symptoms of derelict dental care appear quickly, making it hard to fake quality dental care where there is none. Problems that start in the mouth rarely stay there; dental problems often snowball into further, more serious issues. Elderly people are at particular risk of contracting illness and disease through poor dental care. Here are some common oral health problems in nursing home residents without proper dental care. 

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 Posted on August 10, 2022 in Sepsis

When a body becomes overwhelmed with an infection, it may kick the immune system into overdrive. Sometimes, this triggers a dangerous condition called “sepsis.” Sepsis is not an infection per se, but rather a full-body immune system response in which the body begins attacking its own tissues. This can rapidly lead to organ failure and death. 

Because of their vulnerable health and difficulty communicating, elderly residents of nursing homes are at increased risk of suffering from sepsis. Here are five conditions that can cause sepsis in an Illinois nursing home if proper treatment, supervision, or cleanliness is not observed. 

Bed Sores

When a patient lays in bed for too long, the pressure of their body weight on the contact points with the bed or chair can turn into bed sores. Nursing home staff are responsible for moving patients regularly and ensuring they do not develop these painful sores. If the sores do begin to develop, nursing home staff should catch them well before they become an open wound susceptible to infection.

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 Posted on August 03, 2022 in Nursing Home Abuse

Nursing homes are required to provide a certain standard of care for residents under both state and federal law. The law prohibits nursing homes from using unreasonable physical, chemical, or emotional restraint methods simply because it is more convenient than providing real supportive care. Unfortunately, nursing homes are often understaffed and staff are often poorly trained or even abusive. It is essential to recognize signs of improper nursing home restraint methods so if your loved one is showing indications of improper restraint, you can take action right away. 

Physical Restraints 

Physical restraints may be the most common type of restraints because they are easy to use and readily available. Nursing home staff may restrain residents using legitimate restraint methods, such as ties, vests, or bedside rails, or makeshift restraints like belts, sheets, rope, or string. Physical restraints can cause serious injuries, including: 

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 Posted on July 27, 2022 in Neglect

Everyone knows that the human body requires water. However, few realize just how quickly dehydration can occur. When a person’s body is already weakened due to age or illness, appropriate hydration is essential. Consequently, nursing home residents are at an especially high risk of dehydration-related consequences. Staff must be extra vigilant for signs of dehydration. If a resident is dehydrated, action must be taken immediately to prevent serious medical complications or death.

Symptoms of Dehydration in Nursing Homes

Dehydration occurs when the body loses more fluid than it consumes. Elderly individuals already have lower levels of hydration and many take medications that further lower the volume of water in their bodies. Nursing homes must carefully monitor the amount of water residents consume and look out for signs of dehydration such as:

• Infrequent urination

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 Posted on July 21, 2022 in Neglect

Although it is common, diabetes is a very serious medical condition. Diabetes is especially dangerous in elderly people or those with co-occurring medical conditions. Individuals who experience cognitive decline from dementia and related illness are also at increased risk of severe diabetes complications. These individuals may not recognize the signs of dangerously high or low blood sugar or be able to express their concerns to others. This is why it is so important for nursing home staff to monitor diabetic residents and provide consistently high-quality medical care to these vulnerable individuals. Nursing home neglect can lead to severe diabetes-related injuries or death.

Residents with Diabetes Need to Be Closely Monitored

Diabetes affects blood glucose levels and is often managed using insulin shots. Because the consequences of poorly managed diabetes are so great for elderly and sick people, nursing homes must be vigilant. Staff should help diabetic residents maintain normal blood sugar levels and prevent hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia. Diabetes can differ greatly from one person to the next, so nursing homes should have a personalized plan for each diabetic resident. The staff should regularly monitor the resident’s blood sugars using a glucose meter. According to the Mayo Clinic, blood sugar levels should be tested multiple times a day, including between meals and before going to sleep.

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 Posted on July 15, 2022 in Wandering and Elopement

One of the greatest challenges faced by any long-term care facility is managing the balance between residents’ safety and independence. The individuals living in a nursing home deserve to have the same freedoms as any other adult. However, their freedom is sometimes limited to ensure the residents’ wellbeing. This is an especially crucial issue for residents with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, or other conditions affecting cognition.

A key responsibility of any nursing home is preventing wandering and elopement of residents. When residents are not monitored properly, they can roam into unsafe areas of the nursing home or even leave the premises entirely. Sadly, in some cases, wandering and elopement leads to catastrophic or fatal injuries.  

Injuries Caused by Lack of Supervision of Nursing Home Residents

Most nursing home residents are elderly adults who spent decades building families, careers, and lives outside of the facility before arriving at the nursing home. Losing some of their independence and being confined to a nursing home is difficult regardless of whether the resident suffers from cognitive decline. However, individuals with reduced cognitive abilities or memory loss may have an especially hard time adapting to life inside of a nursing home. Some try to escape the facility. Others wander around the facility and become lost. A nursing home resident who wanders into a kitchen, supply closet, or other hazardous area of the facility may be seriously injured or even killed. Injured residents may be left suffering in pain for hours before staff find them.

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 Posted on July 11, 2022 in Nursing Home Abuse

Nursing home residents are some of the most vulnerable people in our society. Whether they suffer from physical disabilities, cognitive decline, or both, nursing home residents deserve to be protected. Nursing homes and other long-term care facilities are supposed to be safe places for elderly and disabled people to get the help and medical attention they need. Sadly, many nursing homes miss the mark.

One form of nursing home negligence that is rarely discussed is resident-on-resident abuse. Staff in a nursing home have a legal duty to supervise residents and protect them from foreseeable harm. This includes protecting nursing home residents from physical, mental, or sexual abuse at the hands of other residents.

When a Nursing Home Resident Injures Another Resident

Resident-on-resident abuse refers to abuse one nursing home resident inflicts on another. This type of abuse can happen for many different reasons. Sometimes, the abuser suffers from severe cognitive decline caused by Alzheimer’s disease or dementia and does not even realize what he or she is doing. Other times, the abuse follows an altercation of some kind.

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