Nursing Home Abuse

Families often place elder loved ones in nursing homes so that they can be given the care and attention that they need and deserve. Unfortunately, more family members are becoming aware of the problems that exist within nursing homes and the reports of nursing home abuse. According to the Congressional “Nursing Home Abuse Report,” nursing home abuse occurs at one in three facilities. The prevalence of nursing home abuse in the U.S. is extremely high, but experts warn studies and reports may only be revealing a small percentage of the actual number of nursing home abuse instances since many cases can go unreported.

Nursing home abuse is not always reported because the resident fears the consequences. In many cases, the elderly being abused has to rely on the abuser and does not want to say anything. Nursing home abuse can take on many different forms, including physical abuse, mental abuse, sexual abuse, financial abuse or neglect.

In 2001, a congressional report found that over 30 percent of the nursing homes in the U.S. were cited for a nursing home abuse violation that had to cause harm between January 1999 and January 2001. Over 2,500 of the nursing home abuse violations were serious enough to cause actual harm or place the resident’s health in immediate jeopardy of death or serious injury. The report was able to show how widespread nursing home abuse had become, but not enough has been done upon realizing it to prevent it from happening any more.

According to the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Government Reform, there are nearly 17,000 nursing homes in the U.S. that care for 1.6 million residents. This figure is expected to substantially grow as the number of baby boomers, the largest age group, becomes older and will start entering the nation’s nursing homes. Nursing home abuse problems have been largely attributed to under funding, resulting in understaffed, under trained and under paid workers in a stressful working environment.