What I have learned over the past 4 years will help empower every consumer faced with poor care. Any staff member can tell you why. The residents who have families who know how to hold management accountable for substandard care are treated the way the system was designed to work under government regulations. Many families fear retaliation if they become bossy or too demanding. As a staff nurse and patient advocate I see just the opposite.
Management fears a family who takes notes on conditions or photograph inadequate care.
The family who can file a valid complaint or document evidence to substantiate a lawsuit greatly intimidates management and staff toward ensuring quality care. Loss of profits scare the nursing home industry. Large settlements and lawsuits are a very real threat to the facilities, not state inspections. This is why facilities so often offer poor care, because consumers have such great difficulty proving what they see and hear. Many nursing homes use this to their advantage every day.