Preview

Nursing Home Abuse

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2149 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Nursing Home Abuse
Aaron Delurey
Research Paper Approximately 1.4 million elderly people reside in long term care facilities, such as nursing homes. The families that admit their loved ones to these long term care facilities believe that excellent care is being provided to them. Many of the residents in nursing home settings receive adequate health care, but a numerous amount of other residents are subjected to abuse and neglect. It is believed that nearly one-third of all nursing homes have residents that are subjected to abuse either by staff or other residents (Masters in Health Care). Definitions of elder abuse vary. It is difficult to pinpoint exactly what actions or inactions constitute abuse. Besides a variety of definitions, the major types of abuse that occur in nursing homes are categorized into physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional or psychological abuse, neglect, abandonment, financial or material exploitation. The solution to such nursing home abuse is rather simple. To prevent the inhumane treatment of the elderly in nursing homes, the nursing shortage needs to be addressed. The scandal of elder abuse in nursing homes appears to be new phenomena, but in reality this god forsaken crime has occurred for decades. Due to an elder’s physical and cognitive make up, they are not able to defend themselves from the heinous acts of abuse by their caregivers. Abuse in nursing homes is mainly thought of as physical aggression, but the elderly are subjected to psychological abuse also. One would think that no man or woman could commit abuse onto a helpless individual; however the issue of elderly abuse in nursing homes has been a growing problem. In 2003, there were 20,673 complaints of abuse, gross neglect, and exploitation on behalf of nursing home and "board and care" residents (American Association for Justice). By 2010 the number of elderly abuse complaints rose to a number between one million and two million (National Center on Elder Abuse). A study prepared by the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    I interviewed a county worker with in-home supportive services. Mr. Rosen has been an advocate for years because his mother was mistreated in a home for the disabled. The support of the elderly provided by In-home supportive sources has allowed Mr. Rosen to keep his mother in the home and know that when he is gone at work she is cared for. As an advocate for the agency Mr. Rosen educates the public about knowing the signs of abuse the elderly face and speaking out against abuse. Mr. Rosen is an advocate for those who have no voice by continuously improving the standards of care givers and their responsibilities reporting a crime. Mr. Rosen explains that many of the elderly are neglected, can be taken advantage of, and mistreated by family or relatives. Caregivers have the knowhow and experience to detect abuse and put a stop to the cruelty.…

    • 1361 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Knowing the risk factors of nursing home abuse is a great way to deflect the If any form of abuse is more likely to happen. Staff members should always be aware of the risk factors to protect the safety of the residents. In addition, it’s a great way to prevent any types of abuse before it happens. Some of the risk factors of abuse would be Severe physical or mental, impairments in the abused, e.g. dementia, strokes, severe arthritis. 2. The poor mental health of carer. 3. Poor ability to cope with `stress' by carer or signs of `burn-out' evident. 4. The poor long-term relationship between abused and abuser. 5. Alcohol and drug problems in carer. 6. Financial dependence of carer on victim Dyer, C., & Rowe, J. (1999).…

    • 149 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Elder Abuse Case Study

    • 587 Words
    • 3 Pages

    According to the National Research Council (2003) elder abuse is a deliberate action that cause injury or generate serious risk of harm to a vulnerable older adult by a caregiver or other person who is in charge of the elder. In the United States, 700,000 to 1.2 million of senior are exposed to abuse and there are 450,000 new cases yearly (Bond and Butler, 2013). In fact, elder abuse and neglect is a critical health care issue that must be brought to the attention of health care providers and older adults family members. Specifically the most vulnerable to abuse and neglect amongst this population are elder persons, who are socially isolated, cogitatively impaired, or dependent on others for daily personal care. Moreover, older adult are primarily abused, neglected or exploited by caregiver, mostly spouses, adult, children or other family members. Also, Personal care attendants may perform…

    • 587 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    This article reported by the CBC news looks at nursing homes specifically in Quebec from the year 1995 to 1999. The studies show that there is a “pattern of abuse” in Quebec nursing homes specifically from these years. Some problems that were talked about were the lack of nurses to care for the elderly, which meant some were left unclean, untreated and hungry. Another problem was that the elderly were being treated and moved around like objects causing bruises and injuries on their bodies. There was a lack of respect towards the elderly and the elderly had “little or no privacy” since some of the female…

    • 1490 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Senior Care Myths

    • 449 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Caregivers will mistreat your loved one. Elder abuse does happen, but it is extremely rare to find an instance where it was associated with an established, licensed, and bonded senior care provider. To the contrary, utilizing professional senior care services has been shown to reduce the instances of elder abuse by reducing the stress of caring for a senior with a long-term illness, injury, or disease. Comfort Keepers senior care providers are all carefully screened, reference checked, background checked, trained and…

    • 449 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Elder Abuse

    • 815 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Great Depression was an unfortunate American Crisis in the 1930s that left many American people with no money and no hope. Citizens had lost their confidence and needed a leader to rebuild people’s faith in America. While in office President Hoover and Roosevelt were challenged with the jobs to lead Americans out this tragedy. Both men took a unique approach into solving the Depression. President Hoover and Roosevelt both exhibited similarities as they served in office during the American Crisis of the Great Depression, however Roosevelt put more of an effort into creating programs in order to help save the American economy.…

    • 815 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Elder Abuse

    • 268 Words
    • 2 Pages

    selected institutional and resident risk and situation specific factors and complaints and substantiated allegations of various types of mistreatment in assisted living facilities…

    • 268 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Studies also reveal that individuals of the female gender are highly probable to be victims of elder abuse. Non-white ethnic descent and single status of the elders are the other demographic factors that contribute to the likelihood of an individual being a victim of elder abuse.? According to a study done in 2014 by United State's National Center on Elder Abuse, there is estimation that close to 1.5 million of Americans of the ages of 65 years and above have had abuse perpetrated on them. The prevalence rate of abuse in the elders ranges between 2 -10%. A study done in 2014 revealed that out of all the elderly respondents, 5.2% of them reported financial exploitation, 4.6% of them reported emotional abuse, 5.1% of them reported neglect and 1.6% of them reported physical abuse. A study done by (Laumann et al., 2008) revealed that 9% of the respondents revealed incidences of verbal abuse, 3.5% of the respondents reported cases of financial abuse and 0.2% of the respondents revealed cases of physical…

    • 4531 Words
    • 19 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Abuse of vulnerable adults

    • 2530 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Within the care sector there are many individuals who rely and depend on the help and support of others such as nurses, social workers and support workers. When this level of trust and responsibility exists it is important that these individuals are able to feel safe and confident and not at risk to abuse. It is therefore our responsibility as carers to ensure there are safeguarding procedures in place to protect all individuals from any form of abuse at all times.…

    • 2530 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Elderly Legislation Paper

    • 850 Words
    • 4 Pages

    "Nursing homes in California are licensed, regulated, inspected, and/or certified by a number of public and private agencies at the state and federal levels, including the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Licensing and Certification Division (L&C) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). These agencies have separate -- yet sometimes overlapping -- jurisdictions. CDPH is responsible for ensuring nursing homes comply with state laws and regulations. In addition, CDPH has a cooperative agreement with CMS to ensure that facilities accepting Medicare and Medi-Cal (in California, Medicaid is referred to as Medi-Cal) payments meet federal requirements. Of California’s 126,800 nursing home beds, on any given day approximately 68 percent are occupied by a Medi-Cal beneficiary. (About Us-Licensing & Certification, 2007). This type of law and regulation is necessary in order to maintain an adequate and safe living environment for all elderly citizens, since the elderly population can be susceptible to numerous forms of abuse in a nursing home…

    • 850 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Here, Attorney Balderrama gives a basic introduction to nursing home abuse, what it is, and what you can do to stop it.…

    • 360 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    On my recent visit to South Texas Rehabilitation Hospital, where my grandmother is staying, I noticed how well the nurses and doctors where treating her. Since my grandmother has several complication, such as hard of hearing and stubbornness, nurses had a difficult time trying to work with her during therapy appointments, however, they wouldn’t give up on her or lose their patients. This got me thinking if all nurses and doctors, in all nursing homes, are as friendly and caring to elders such as my grandmother. Elder abuse in nursing homes is a big issue due to the emotional, physical and finical problem it causes to that elderly person.…

    • 448 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Elder Abuse And Neglect

    • 1182 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In nursing homes or in home health care services, elder abuse and neglect is prevalent because it is difficult to recognize. Reports of elder abuse are on the rise and nurses can prevent elder abuse from happening. They are mandated to report to Adult Protective Services and usually frontline staff who will see signs of abuse. Elder abuse is any knowing, intentional, or negligent act by by a caregiver or any other person that causes harm or a serious risk of harm to a vulnerable adult. Neglect is the failure to provide for one’s self the goods or services, including medical services, which are necessary to avoid physical or emotional harm or pain or the failure of a caretaker to provide such goods or services. (Hamp, 2001) The elderly face…

    • 1182 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Essay On Elder Mistreatment

    • 3439 Words
    • 14 Pages

    Elder mistreatment is a widespread problem in our society that is often under-recognized by health care professionals. As a result of growing public outcry over the past 20 years, all states now have abuse laws that are specific to older adults; most states have mandated reporting by all health care professionals. The term "mistreatment" includes physical abuse and neglect, psychological abuse, financial exploitation and violation of rights. Poor health, physical or cognitive impairment, alcohol abuse and a history of domestic violence are some of the risk factors for elder mistreatment. Diagnosis of elder mistreatment depends on acquiring a detailed history from the patient and the caregiver. It also involves performing a comprehensive physical examination. Only through awareness, a healthy suspicion and the performing of certain procedures are physicians able to detect elder mistreatment. Once it is suspected, elder mistreatment should be reported to adult protective services (HHS fact sheet, 2005).…

    • 3439 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Disengagement Theory

    • 1747 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The typical victim is an older adult who is in poor health and who lives with someone else. In fact, the person who lives alone is at low risk of becoming a victim of this form of abuse. Both victims and abusers require treatment, whether individual, family, or group therapy. The main goal, however, is to ensure the safety of the elderly victim. Many licensed professionals, such as clinical psychologists, are required by law to report known cases of elderly abuse to the…

    • 1747 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays

Related Topics