New Jersey Nursing Home Worker Indicted for Assaulting Resident with Bleach Spray

New Jersey nursing home worker indicted by a grand jury for abuse of a patient after spraying an elderly resident with bleach, says a Patch.com article. According to the article, Simone Goldsboro, 34, a worker at Dwellside Care & Rehab in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, sprayed bleach on a female nursing home resident’s face and body, a shocking act of nursing home malpractice. Goldsboro furthermore “purposely or recklessly” caused bodily injury by pulling the resident’s hair and aggressively undressing her, said the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General (OAG). Goldsboro was charged last August with aggravated assault for the incident of nursing home malpractice.

According to an affidavit referenced in the article, police received word that a Dwellside worker had reportedly been routinely assaulting a patient; they responded by meeting at the home with the aforementioned victim’s daughter, who claimed to have witnessed nursing home malpractice in the form of abuse against her mother. The daughter shared with the authorities a video recording she had made showing Goldsboro pulling her mother’s hair, yanking a shirt over her head and face, and using a spray bottle to spray a liquid—later determined to be bleach—directly onto the patient’s face and body.

This incident of nursing home malpractice illustrates classic physical nursing home abuse. Physical abuse occurs when a nursing home staff member (or even another nursing home resident) uses deliberate physical action against a nursing home resident. Common types of physical nursing home abuse involve hitting, shoving, kicking, hair pulling, and more. If your loved one lives in a nursing home, it is important to watch for signs of physical abuse, including unexplained bruises, burns, scratches, or bone fractures, or uncharacteristic displays of anger, depression, or violence. Unchecked nursing home abuse can lead to serious injury or even death, unfortunately requiring the intervention of a wrongful death attorney.

 Fighting Nursing Home Neglect, Elder Abuse, and Wrongful Death

Attorney Brian P. Murphy is dedicated to ensuring negligent Philadelphia/PA or NJ nursing homes be held responsible for incidents of nursing home malpractice. As an experienced nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, Brian Murphy fights untiringly to uphold the rights and preserve the health and safety of Philadelphia/PA and NJ nursing home residents. Should you find yourself needing to contact a nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, call Brian Murphy today to discuss your legal options.

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Heat Wave Endured on Residents of Troubled New Jersey Nursing Home with Little to No Air Conditioning 

A poorly maintained heating and cooling system at Homestead Rehabilitation and Care Center in Newton, New Jersey, has twice threatened to expose fragile residents to an uncomfortable, and potentially dangerous, bout of nursing home malpractice.

A June heat wave and a faulty air conditioning system in a New Jersey nursing home forced dozens of elderly long-term residents—including some with medical challenges and/or memory loss—out of overheated rooms in the facility, an NJ Spotlight News article reports. When temperatures soared well into the 90s earlier this summer, Homestead Rehabilitation and Care Center in Newton, New Jersey, struggled to keep indoor temperatures within safe limits and to avoid subjecting residents to a dangerous circumstance of nursing home malpractice.

“Summer heat waves are foreseeable,” said Laurie Facciarossa Brewer, leader of the state’s Office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman. “No nursing home should be operating with systems that cannot handle them.”

According to NJ Spotlight News, while upgrades were made to Homestead’s heating and cooling system on the building’s fourth floor—typically used for short-term residents undergoing rehabilitation after hospital stays—no similar upgrades were made for the lower floors where long-term residents live. Per the article, window-unit air conditioners were added to these floors only when the heat wave had gone on for days.

The article reported that Homestead residents have been subjected to similar issues of nursing home malpractice in the past. In December 2022, the furnace went out, and while outside temperatures plummeted into the teens, residents were told to remain in bed under the covers while wearing coats, hats and gloves. Nearly 24 hours passed before heat was restored.

“We are concerned that substandard infrastructure is an ongoing issue with this facility,” said Facciarossa Brewer of the persistent nursing home malpractice problems. “Residents have experienced issues with breakdowns related to heating in the winter and cooling in the summer, and yet we see no evidence that the management and ownership have committed to a long-term fix for the problems.”

Beyond difficulties with the heating and cooling system, Homestead also struggles with water pressure issues, which impacts residents’ ability to bathe and flush toilets. The water is furthermore frequently of questionable chlorination. While bottled water has been provided to address nursing home malpractice issues related to unsafe drinking water, it is uncertain what accommodations have been made for resident teeth-brushing.

Compounding the aforementioned nursing home malpractice problems, Homestead has also been recently fined by the state Health Department for multiple staffing violations between 2021 and 2023, which, said inspectors, potentially put residents at risk for “more than minimal harm.”

According to the article, Homestead is owned by 10 entities, a mix of limited liability corporations, and several individuals, including Benjamin Landa, a New York resident who has been charged with multiple abuse, neglect and other violations amounting to nursing home malpractice related to the New York nursing homes he operates.

Fighting Against, Substandard Care, Nursing Home Malpractice and Wrongful Death

Attorney Brian P. Murphy strives to uphold the safety and rights of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and New Jersey nursing home residents, safeguarding them from nursing home malpractice and wrongful death. Your loved one living in a Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, or New Jersey nursing home should not have to be concerned about the quality of the facility in which he or she resides, or about being subjected to any dangerous circumstance arising from nursing home malpractice. As an experienced nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, Brian Murphy holds accountable those Philadelphia/PA or NJ nursing homes responsible for any sort of negligence and abuse. Should you find yourself needing to contact a nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, or if you need guidance in choosing a nursing home, call Brian Murphy today.

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Tougher Sanctions Are Needed against New Jersey Nursing Homes that Repeatedly Put Residents at Risk, Says New Report

New Jersey has failed at holding the worst nursing home operators accountable for repeatedly subjecting residents to nursing home malpractice, says NJ.com. The article cites a long-awaited report by the New Jersey Task Force on Long-Term Care Quality and Safety, which calls for a sweeping transformation of the nursing home system in New Jersey.

Released in late May, the 74-page report called for tougher sanctions against nursing homes that repeatedly neglect to meet staffing and safety standards that safeguard against nursing home malpractice. The task force was created in 2020 to investigate what factors contributed to the shocking number of nursing home deaths in New Jersey during the pandemic—over 16,250 people through March 2022. The study concluded in August of last year, meaning 10 months elapsed before its findings became public.

Among its recommendations for the state’s nursing home industry—such as making facilities less like hospitals and more home-like, and making it easier for elderly citizens to receive support while staying in their own homes—the task force gave particular attention to those New Jersey nursing home operators recurrently cited for violations amounting to nursing home malpractice.

“There is a group of chronically poor performing facilities that consistently fail to provide high-quality, safe care, in some cases for many years,” said the report, which called for more resources to be dedicated to oversight and intervention. For operators guilty of such incidences of nursing home malpractice as violating the state’s minimum staffing law and other health and safety codes, the report suggested taking such actions as halting admissions, appointing a monitor, and imposing substantial fines.

This report comes on the heels of the March independent report on New Jersey’s response to the pandemic, which called the state’s nursing home response to Department of Health directives “inconsistent and confused,” allowing COVID-19 to run rampant in its nursing homes.

According to the article, another suggestion put forth in the report includes holding the nursing home industry more accountable for how it spends its money, and insisting on more detailed, verifiable, and transparent information about any person or entity that owns any part of a nursing home.

When nursing homes repeatedly fail to meet standards for staffing, health, and safety, it is the vulnerable residents who pay the price. Conditions are established that can lead to a host of issues equating to nursing home malpractice, including nursing home illnesses, injuries, and even death. If you’re concerned nursing home malpractice is occurring in your loved one’s nursing home don’t wait to contact a nursing home malpractice or a wrongful death attorney.

Advocating for Your Loved One against Nursing Home Abuse, Neglect, and Wrongful Death

Attorney Brian P. Murphy is dedicated to protecting the safety and preserving the rights of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, or New Jersey nursing home residents. Your loved one living in a nursing home should not fear that their home’s negligence will result in illness or wrongful death. Attorney Brian Murphy has years of experience fighting negligent nursing homes in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and New Jersey. As a seasoned nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, he holds accountable the Philadelphia/PA or NJ nursing homes responsible for elder abuse, neglect, and other types of nursing home malpractice. Should you find yourself needing to contact a nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, or if you need guidance in choosing a nursing home, call Brian Murphy today to discuss your legal options.

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Former Pennsylvania Nursing Home Aide Sentenced for Stealing Jewelry from Dementia Patients 

In a shocking incident of nursing home malpractice, a former nursing aide of a Pennsylvania nursing home has been sentenced to time in jail for stealing jewelry from dementia patients, says an article on triblive.com. Christina Louise Ankney, of Allegheny County, has pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of theft and receiving stolen property related to two incidents that took place while she was subcontracted to work as an aide at Redstone Highlands in Murrysville, Pennsylvania.

According to the article, Ankney stole rings from two patients and later pawned them at a local pawn shop for cash. Two of the rings she’d pawned were wedding and engagement rings wrested from the fingers of a patient who suffered from a condition that left her hands in a constant state of contraction.

“For Ankney to steal the two rings…she would have had to forcefully pry (the victim’s fingers) open and physically keep them open long enough for her to pull the two rings from her fingers, a task that most likely caused (the victim) discomfort,” said an officer quoted in the criminal complaint about the incident of nursing home malpractice.

A tip to police about the pawning led authorities to identify the missing rings and confirm Ankney as the person who had pawned them.

As penalty for the theft equating to nursing home malpractice, Ankney was sentenced to serve 306 days to 23 months in jail and to pay $9,500 in restitution to one victim’s family and $130 to Redstone Highlands.

Beyond this incident of nursing home malpractice, Ankney is separately the subject of a federal indictment for allegedly stealing mail while employed by the U.S. Postal Service in 2022.

Nursing home theft is a type of nursing home abuse, and when it happens, an incident of nursing home malpractice has occurred. If you suspect your loved one living in a nursing home has been victimized by nursing home theft, don’t hesitate to report it. For any questions about what to do if you suspect elder abuse or what steps to take if you need a wrongful death attorney, you should contact a nursing home malpractice attorney immediately.

Fighting Against Nursing Home Malpractice and Wrongful Death

Attorney Brian P. Murphy endeavors to protect the safety and rights of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and New Jersey nursing home residents. Your loved one living in a Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, or New Jersey nursing home should not need to worry that his or her person items are at risk of being stolen or that he or she should be subjected to any sort of nursing home malpractice, especially any sort that would require securing a wrongful death attorney. As an experienced nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, Brian Murphy holds accountable those Philadelphia/PA or NJ nursing homes responsible for every kind of negligence and abuse. Should you find yourself needing to contact a nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, or if you need guidance in choosing a nursing home, call Brian Murphy today.

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Staff Requirements are Falling Short for Most Pennsylvania and New Jersey Nursing Homes, Says Analysis

In 2026, federal staffing minimums will be implemented in an effort to address staffing shortages that contribute to incidences of nursing home malpractice. Few facilities in Pennsylvania and New Jersey are close to meeting these minimums, a new report finds.

The majority of Pennsylvania and New Jersey nursing homes don’t meet the staffing requirements drafted under a new rule from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a Philly Voice article says. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis, under 20 percent of Pennsylvania nursing homes and only 15 percent of New Jersey nursing homes meet certain staffing requirements due to take effect in 2026.

Following the pandemic, during which over 167,000 nursing home residents died, a severe drop in nursing home staff occurred. Subsequent reports of neglect, abuse, and nursing home malpractice followed. The CMS rule, proposed last year and released in finalized form in April, seeks to help resolve the low staffing that results in nursing home malpractice as well as tragic deadly incidents that require the intervention of a wrongful death attorney.

The finalized CMS rule will require a total nurse staffing standard of 3.48 hours per resident day (HPRD), which needs to include 0.55 HPRD for registered nurses and 2.45 HPRD for nurse aides. According to the Philly Voice article, the KFF analysis shows the following data related to Pennsylvania and New Jersey nursing homes vis-à-vis the staffing requirements:

• Pennsylvania – Only 18 percent of nursing homes currently provide the 2.45 HPRD from nurse aids, while 56 percent of homes meet the total nursing standard and under 70 percent meet the 0.55 HPRD for RNs.
• New Jersey – In New Jersey, 19 percent of nursing homes meet the minimum 2.45 HPRD from nurse aides, while 55 percent meet the registered nurse staffing standards, and just over 50 percent meet the total nursing standard.

Low staffing in nursing homes interferes with workers’ and nurses’ ability to adequately perform tasks and give care to vulnerable nursing home residents, which equates to nursing home malpractice in the following forms:

• Malnutrition and dehydration from inadequate provision of food and water
• Poor nursing home hygiene and the development/deterioration of bed sores
• Increased nursing home falls  and medication errors
• Nursing home illnesses
• Nursing home infections
• Nursing home injuries
• Wrongful death, necessitating the involvement of a wrongful death attorney

If you are worried about staffing levels at your loved one’s nursing home, or if you suspect injuries, illnesses, or wrongful death has occurred as a result of poor nursing home staffing, don’t hesistate—contact a nursing home malpractice or wrongful death attorney right away.

Holding Nursing Homes Responsible for Poor Staffing Levels

Your loved one living in a Philadelphia/PA or NJ nursing home should not need to tolerate circumstances of nursing home malpractice related to low staffing, especially those that compromise their health and safety or subject them to the possibility of wrongful death. As a nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, Brian P. Murphy is committed to fighting for the health and safety of Philadelphia/PA and NJ nursing home residents. With extensive experience as a wrongful death attorney fighting negligent nursing homes in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Brian Murphy is committed to successfully resolving his clients’ nursing home malpractice cases. Should you find yourself needing to contact a nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, call Brian Murphy today to discuss your legal options.

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New Jersey Nursing Home Residents Sue for Negligence, Hardship, and Wrongful Death after Home Closes without Notice

For months before the sudden shutdown, red flags about Princeton Care Center were apparent, including staffing shortages, unpaid bills, and poor ratings related to nursing home malpractice,

Eleven lawsuits have been brought against a New Jersey nursing home, all of which claim it illegally closed without proper notice, a NJ.com article reports. The lawsuits, brought by residents or their families, claim that the precipitous shuttering of doors at Princeton Care Center caused hardship and wrongful death, necessitating the securing of wrongful death attorneys and constituting a blatant act of nursing home malpractice.

In the state of New Jersey, the law dictates that a nursing home intending to close must submit a closure plan and give 60 days’ notice to residents. According to the article, the 72 residents of Princeton Care were given just hours of notice when Princeton Care announced it was closing last September. After the closure, says the article, the majority of the residents were placed in other nursing homes, where they promptly suffered mental deterioration trying to acclimate to new surroundings. Two of the residents died shortly after being relocated, unfortunately requiring their families to secure a wrongful death attorney.

The nursing home malpractice lawsuits against the home charge the facility’s owner, administrators, and health care providers with the following:

• Negligence
• Failure to safeguard residents
• Deviating from accepted standards of long-term care
• Failure to comply with federal and state regulations
• Failure to return funds held in residents’ personal needs accounts

Regarding Princeton Care’s sudden shutdown, New Jersey Health Department officials say the move was the legal consequence of emergency circumstances stemming from the collapse of a license transfer deal that would have rescued the financially struggling home; however, court documents and other records indicate the home was in serious financial and operating straits long before the shutdown, a perfect storm of conditions that create circumstances under which nursing home malpractice occurs and vulnerable residents suffer. The red flags were enumerated by the article as the following:

• Consistent poor ratings
• Hundreds of thousands in unpaid bills
• Millions in mounting losses
• Chronic staffing shortages
• Alleged breach of contract concerning lease payments not made for months

According to the Office of the State Comptroller, Princeton Care’s owner, Gail Bogner, has been made to renounce her stake in two other facilities earlier this year rather than risk the forfeiture of millions of dollars in federal funding necessary to keep those sites open. Acting State Comptroller Kevin Walsh said Bogner’s actions regarding Princeton Care were characterized by “recklessness, neglect, and incredibly poor judgment [that] caused serious harm and trauma to the residents of Princeton Care Center. It presents too serious of a risk to allow them to have influence over any other Medicaid-funded nursing homes.”

Fighting Against Nursing Home Neglect, Abuse, and Wrongful Death

Attorney Brian P. Murphy has dedicated his practice to upholding the safety and preserving the rights of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, or New Jersey nursing home residents. Your loved one should not fear that the facility he or she is comfortable in will close without notice, leaving him or her reeling. As a seasoned nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, Brian Murphy endeavors to hold accountable those Philadelphia/PA or NJ nursing homes responsible for negligence and abuse and every kind of nursing home malpractice. Should you find yourself needing to contact a nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, or if you need guidance in choosing a nursing home, call Brian Murphy today.

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Dementia Residents Subjected to Improper Medication, False Diagnoses, and Neglect at Massachusetts Nursing Home

A host of violations and “appalling” conditions amounting to nursing home malpractice were recently uncovered during an investigation at Bear Mountain Worcester nursing home.

A two-year Disability Law Center investigation of a Massachusetts nursing home has revealed numerous violations related to nursing home malpractice, says a Boston 25 News article. According to the DLC, the multiple Nursing Home Reform Act violations found during the investigation of Bear Mountain Worcester from October 2021 to October 2023 stem from understaffing and lack of clinical expertise—nursing home malpractice issues that are common among for-profit healthcare providers like Bear Mountain. Boston 25 says nearly two-thirds of Massachusetts’s nursing homes are for-profit.

According to the article, the neurobehavioral unit of Bear Mountain was especially impacted by the acts of nursing home malpractice. Residents of this unit, who suffer from dementia, anxiety, depression, brain injuries, and trauma, were discovered to have been regularly treated with a range of antipsychotics and other psychotropic medications. Some were given “questionable” schizophrenia diagnoses. The DLC also said that there was evidence of “minimal engagement with patients in the neurobehavioral unit;” the facility furthermore had no trained/credentialed psychiatric nurses, psychologists, or psychiatric and neurological consultations.

The issuing of false diagnoses and the inappropriate administration of antipsychotics or psychotropics to elderly residents are both acts of nursing home malpractice falling under the umbrella of nursing home medication errors. Giving the wrong medication in order to chemically restrain a dementia patient to make him or her easier to deal with not only violates that resident’s rights, but is also a dangerous practice that can lead to the following serious issues:

• Nursing Home Falls
• Bedsores
• Wrongful Death

Attorneys who handles matter of nursing home malpractice ought to be contacted if it is suspected that distribution of inappropriate medication is taking place in a nursing home. In the event of an accidental death related to medication errors, it will unfortunately be necessary to contact a wrongful death attorney.

Beyond the above violations, the article also stated that Bear Mountain was accused by guardians and families of nursing home infections throughout the facility, filthy communal spaces, and even rodent infestation.

“The conditions at Bear Mountain have been appalling,” said DLC Executive Director Barbara L’Italien. “It has been a dire situation, and we must hold the Commonwealth accountable for its duty to inspect and ensure proper care in these facilities.”

Holding Nursing Homes Responsible for Nursing Home Malpractice and Wrongful Death

Attorney Brian P. Murphy is a nursing home malpractice lawyer and wrongful death attorney committed to upholding the rights and safety of Philadelphia/PA and NJ nursing home residents. Your loved one living in a Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, or New Jersey nursing home should never be subjected to any sort of nursing home malpractice, including medication errors and false diagnoses. Brian Murphy holds accountable those Philadelphia/PA or NJ nursing homes responsible for elder abuse or neglect, particularly any incident of nursing home malpractice that results in wrongful death. Attorney Brian Murphy is ready to discuss your legal options. If you or your loved one needs to contact a nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, call Brian Murphy today.

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Covid Continues to Kill Nursing Home Residents, yet the Majority Go without the Latest Shot

After Covid-19 ravaged American nursing homes in the height of the pandemic, getting vaccinations for the vulnerable elderly was a top priority. Now nursing home residents essentially have been left on their own.

Despite the high death toll in nursing homes from Covid-19, fewer than 4 in 10 residents have gotten the most recent Covid shot, says a POLITICO article.  Covid continues to kill nursing home residents, more than 170,000 nursing home residents have died- including nearly 600 residents during the first two weeks of 2024—and the low rate of new shots among residents has left nursing homes and the Biden administration pointing fingers at one another.

Due to factors such as age and underlying conditions, nursing home residents are especially vulnerable to Covid-19. Despite the consensus among experts that elderly people need an annual Covid shot, recent vaccinations among nursing home residents has dropped to 38 percent. Considering the federal rules requiring homes to offer vaccines, the question is whether or not the low vaccination numbers come as a result of negligence amounting to nursing home malpractice.

With the termination of the public health emergency last fall, the government shifted the responsibility for buying and managing the distribution of Covid shots to nursing homes. According to POLITICO, since late December of last year, Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra has met twice with nursing home representatives to emphasize facilities’ responsibility to offer the latest shot to residents. Finding that some nursing homes show greater vaccine success than others—both North and South Dakota report over 60 percent nursing home resident vaccination, compared with just 20.1 percent of Arizona nursing home residents—the administration insists it’s possible for all nursing homes to do a better job.

Considering the vulnerability of residents and the deadliness and contagiousness of Covid-19, it is the responsibility of nursing homes to take every measure to safeguard their residents; neglecting to do so is nursing home malpractice. When nursing homes do not do their part in preventing nursing home infections and residents become seriously ill or die, nursing home malpractice has occurred and loved ones must look into a nursing home lawyer or wrongful death attorney.

In response to the administration’s insistence that facilities work harder to improve vaccine rates, nursing homes have countered that the government needs to act to address vaccine hesitancy. While Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Mandy Cohen said it was a top priority for the agency to address issues of vaccine access and hesitancy, POLITICO said others in the administration feel that vaccine promotion should come from manufacturers and nursing homes.

Your Advocate against Nursing Home Abuse, Neglect, and Wrongful Death

Attorney Brian P. Murphy is dedicated to protecting the safety and preserving the rights of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, or New Jersey nursing home residents. Your loved one living in a nursing home should not fear that their home’s negligence will result in illness or wrongful death. Attorney Brian Murphy has years of experience fighting negligent nursing homes in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and New Jersey. As a seasoned nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, he holds accountable the Philadelphia/PA or NJ nursing homes responsible for elder abuse, neglect, and other types of nursing home malpractice. Should you find yourself needing to contact a nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, or if you need guidance in choosing a nursing home, call Brian Murphy today to discuss your legal options.

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Biden Administration Proposes Minimum Staffing Rule to Combat Nursing Home Malpractice

The Biden administration has released a proposed rule requiring nursing homes to meet a minimum staffing level, a Washington Post article reports. The rule, said Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, is intended to help address the persistent crisis of understaffing in American nursing homes and to ensure residents get a higher level of quality care.

If implemented, the rule, drafted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), will require that nursing home residents receive 2.45 hours of care from a nurse aide per day, plus 0.55 hours of care from a registered nurse. The rule would also require that nursing homes have a registered nurse on duty at all times. According to the article, CMS estimates that three-quarters of American nursing homes will need to increase staffing to meet the requirements, and one-fifth of nursing homes will need to hire registered nurses.

Understaffing in nursing homes has a direct and negative impact on nursing home residents’ well-being to an extent that amounts to nursing home malpractice. The following are examples of how low staff levels in nursing homes can result in nursing home malpractice:

• Scarce staff may interfere with the timely provision of adequate food and water, leading to nursing home malnutrition and dehydration
• Fewer staff members are available to provide frequent bathing, which can lead to poor nursing home hygiene and the development/deterioration of pressure wounds
• Inconsistent staffing affects staff members’ ability to frequently reposition immobile residents, which can result in bedsores
• Residents stranded by unavailable staff may attempt to get out of bed or use the bathroom by themselves, risking nursing home falls
• Lack of nurses within nursing homes can increase the occurrence of medication errors
• Low nursing levels reduces the number of decision makers regarding medical intervention or sending a resident to the hospital

The above circumstances—in themselves instances of nursing home malpractice—illustrate how understaffing interferes with nursing homes’ ability to properly execute tasks that support elderly residents’ well-being. Ultimately these circumstances of nursing home malpractice can also result in a range of  negative outcomes, such as the following:

• Nursing Home Illnesses
• Nursing home Infections
• Nursing Home Injuries
• And in some cases, even wrongful death, necessitating the involvement of a wrongful death attorney

While nursing home operators claim understaffing is the result of an extreme employee shortage, particularly in the wake of the pandemic, advocates for better quality care in nursing homes say insufficient pay and poor working conditions, which create high staff turnover rates (an average of 50 percent per year), are the real culprits for poorly staffed homes.

“We call it a job quality crisis, not a hireability crisis,” said Sam Brooks, director of public policy at the nonprofit advocacy group National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care. “It’s clear that nursing homes don’t pay workers well, they don’t treat them well, and they don’t provide adequate training.”

Beyond this, said Brooks, is the financial opacity of nursing homes, which increasingly are operated by owners that utilize multiple companies that service their facilities and direct profits away from resident care, resulting in conditions that often advance nursing home malpractice.

The majority of the staffing rule will kick in within three years for urban facilities and five years for rural facilities.

Protecting Your Loved One against Nursing Home Malpractice and Wrongful Death

Attorney Brian P. Murphy has dedicated his law practice to protecting the health, security, and well-being of Philadelphia/PA and NJ nursing home residents. Your loved one living in a Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, or New Jersey nursing home has the right to expect a high level of quality care and not fear that situations of nursing home malpractice will occur as a result of low staffing levels within the home. As an experienced nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, Brian P. Murphy holds accountable Philadelphia/PA or NJ nursing homes for acts of negligence or elder abuse. Should you find yourself needing to contact a nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, call Brian Murphy today to discuss your legal options.

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Seniors Stranded in Hospitals for Months due to Scarcity of Nursing Home Beds, Leaving Them Prone to Infection, Delirium, and Premature Death

American nursing home beds are rapidly disappearing, leaving seniors stranded in hospitals where they are vulnerable to a host of health risks, says a Wall Street Journal article. Thanks to a long-understaffed industry and the ravaging of nursing homes during the Covid-19 pandemic, the nation is operating with 600 fewer nursing homes now than in 2017, and with the lack of available beds, American seniors are languishing, often for months at a time, in hospital environments that have proven dangerous for them.

Poor nursing home staffing, aggravated by the pandemic, has exacerbated an already shrinking industry. Several U.S. nursing homes grappling with staff shortages have had to take nursing home beds offline. Even as staffing levels have improved in the nation’s hospitals since the deadliest days of Covid-19, nursing homes are still struggling to recover. As a result, many elderly Americans in need of long-term elder care are instead finding themselves in hospitals, which not only cannot provide the specific care fragile seniors need, but also expose the vulnerable elderly to a range of health dangers. Similarly, seniors who have recovered from an injury or a spate of ill health in a hospital and are ready to move on to long-term care have nowhere to go. In Massachusetts, says the WSJ article, some patients wait six months or longer to move to nursing homes.

Elderly people stuck in hospital settings are at increased risk for the following health problems:

• Infection: Hospitals expose patients to infectious diseases like MRSA; patients are also more susceptible to developing hard-to-treat pneumonia.
• Delirium: About half of all elderly patients and up to 85 percent of intensive care unit patients experience delirium, which can double a patient’s risk of death, according to a Fierce Healthcare article.
• Premature Death: According to Parent Giving, even short hospital stays can result in the aforementioned problems or other issues like medication errors and falls, all of which could be life-threatening, putting families in the position of needing to obtain a wrongful death attorney.

In long-term care facilities it is considered nursing home malpractice not to meet the unique needs of their residents; however, hospitals, which concentrate on treating illnesses and injuries, are not oriented toward giving the specific sort of care elderly patients need. As a result, complications beyond the original reason for their admittance can develop; for instance, allowing patients’ movements to be restricted by medical equipment or not preventing patients from spending long stretches of time in hospital beds can result in the development of pressure ulcers or blood clots or lead to muscle deterioration.

Understaffing is Nursing Home Malpractice

Nursing home understaffing directly contributes to incidence of nursing home malpractice. Operating with fewer nursing home workers weakens a facility’s capacity for providing the level of care elderly residents need to uphold their health and human dignity. The following types of nursing home malpractice can occur as the result of poor staffing in nursing homes:

• Bed sores
• Nursing home falls
• Nursing home injuries
• Nursing home infections
• Malnutrition and dehydration
• Poor nursing home hygiene
• Wrongful death

If you’re concerned about the staffing levels at your loved one’s home, or if your elderly parent is showing signs of any of the above signs of nursing home malpractice, you should contact a nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney immediately.

Demanding Adequate Staffing to Prevent Nursing Home Malpractice and Wrongful Death

Attorney Brian P. Murphy is dedicated to protecting the safety and preserving the rights of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, or New Jersey nursing home residents. In all matters pertaining to resident safety, including nursing home understaffing, nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney Brian Murphy strives to hold negligent Philadelphia/PA or NJ nursing homes accountable. He endeavors to ensure nursing homes protect residents from physical abuse, psychological abuse, neglect, and other types of nursing home malpractice. Should you find yourself needing to contact a nursing home malpractice and wrongful death attorney, or if you need guidance in choosing a nursing home, call Brian Murphy today to discuss your legal options.

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