Short Staffed: Is It an Excuse for Neglect?

When nursing homes are guilty of any kind of neglect, they are often using the same excuse for why it is occurring: the nursing home is short staffed. They try to say that there are too many residents compared to the number of people they have on staff.

However, is it a valid excuse for the residents in the nursing homes to be neglected?

The short answer is no, it isn’t any kind of excuse and neglect should not be tolerated by any means. Here are some of the reasons that even if a nursing home is short staffed, they should still be held accountable when a resident doesn’t receive proper care.

Nursing Homes Have a Choice

Nursing homes decide who and how many people they staff. They must ensure that there are enough people available to care for all residents. In Oregon, there must be at least two nursing care staff members on shift at all times and it is their responsibility to care for the residents.

If the nursing home tries to save on profits by having fewer staff members, they should be held accountable for any neglect that results in harm to the residents. This is something that the nursing home itself can in fact fix.

Neglect Is Never Acceptable

Regardless of the size of the staff, neglect should never occur. It’s easy for individuals to feel as though they are overworked, but it’s important to recognize the industry they are in and the necessity for the highest level of care to be provided.

Those who work for nursing homes must not make excuses for their actions and despite how busy they may feel, they must provide the residents and meet their needs. This is imperative to avoiding serious harm at the hands of physical, verbal, or other types of abuse.

At The Gatti Law Firm, we truly care about our clients and we work hard to uphold the rights of elderly individuals in nursing homes. You should never have to endure harm at someone else’s hands and if you do, we work hard to pursue justice.

When you hire our Oregon nursing home abuse lawyers, you can be sure that we’re focused on your best interests. We’ll build a strong case on your behalf and work to get the compensation you need and deserve.

Call our firm today at (503) 543-1114.

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