When you have an elderly loved one in a nursing home in New York, you may know about the serious risks of nursing home abuse and neglect. You might understand the importance of recognizing the signs of physical and emotional abuse, and you may have learned more about some of the common signs that an elderly parent is suffering injuries because of the harmful behavior of one or more staff members at the facility. Yet nursing home negligence and passive neglect can often be more difficult to spot, especially since common signs of nursing home negligence may be attributed to other causes. Specifically, we want to discuss nursing home infections and some of the reasons that an infection might be a warning sign of negligence at the facility.
Certainly, nursing homes cannot prevent residents from developing infections under all circumstances. Yet sometimes, infections can happen because of a facility’s negligence. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), anywhere from “1 to 3 million serious infections” are diagnosed annually in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. In many circumstances, these infections result from or worsen due to infection control problems at the facility. The following are some of the common ways in which a nursing home’s failure to exercise reasonable care and provide a safe and healthy space for residents can result in resident infections.
Failure to Quarantine an Infectious Patient
The COVID-19 pandemic showed how devastating airborne infections can be at nursing homes and similar facilities and the importance of quarantining ill patients so that other patients do not contract diseases. If a nursing home sees signs of a contagious disease in a patient and fails to quarantine them, the facility could be liable for subsequent infections and harm.
Failure to Recognize a Minor Infection That Worsens
In many circumstances, a nursing home patient might develop a minor infection that worsens significantly due to a lack of reasonable care and attention from nursing home staff. Often, this kind of situation occurs when a patient develops a Stage 1 bed sore that is not identified and treated quickly. As Johns Hopkins Medicine explains, bed sores can worsen significantly without timely treatment. Or for instance, a facility might fail to properly monitor a patient at risk of developing an infection following a surgical procedure. Under any of these types of circumstances, the facility could be liable for injuries caused by negligence.
Failure to Comply With Infection Prevention Protocols
Nursing homes in New York must have infection prevention protocols in place, and staff members must follow them. For example, staff members should be required to wash their hands and comply with other hygiene protocols to avoid causing infections in patients or spreading infections. Any failure to comply with infection prevention protocols may result in liability.
Contact a New York Nursing Home Negligence Attorney
When you have concerns about how a loved one developed an infection at a nursing home or did not receive treatment soon enough, it is important to speak with an experienced New York nursing home negligence attorney as soon as possible. Contact Leitner Varughese Warywoda PLLC, to learn more about filing a nursing home negligence lawsuit in New York.
