For too many residents of our nation's nursing homes, inadequate care is commonplace. Regulations stemming from that law require that the facility protect its residents from unnecessary accidents. California is unfortunately representative. Injuries, and deaths, occur too often in our nation's nursing home facilities. Injuries are commonly encountered because of neglect, or omission of care, or because of the failure to properly monitor, assess or promptly notify a physician of a resident's problems.
Abuse happens too often.
In too many instances nursing homes are not properly or fully staffed, and often staff are not properly trained. Our nation's elderly are often frail, weak and helpless. We entrust them to nursing home facilities not only with the hope of excellent care and with the minimum expectation that they will be treated with dignity, kindness and compassion, in part because we want to afford them a thank you for the loving and compassionate lives they led. This truth reflects poorly on our nation, considering the care that many of our elderly receive in nursing homes. We must protect the elder and most vulnerable among us.