Study Reveals Tennessee Receives Barely Passing Score in Nursing Home Quality

By Thomas Greer | September 10, 2013

According to a national nursing home quality study conducted by a non-profit organization known as Families for Better Care (FBC), Tennessee nursing homes are collectively receiving a barely passing score.   In other words, they have been given a score of a D for the generally poor quality of their nursing homes.  For the very same reasons, the FBC’s report also ranked Tennessee as 38th in the country due to their shockingly high number of low quality nursing homes.  This is serious cause for alarm, especially for those who either currently have loved ones in Tennessee nursing homes or in the process of considering one.  If you or a loved one has experienced first-hand a lack of care in a nursing home, contact our team of qualified team of Tennessee nursing home abuse attorneys today to learn more about your legal rights and options.  Nursing home abuse and neglect should never be tolerated, and that is what fuels our mission to help the innocent victims receive the help they need and, hold those accountable for the harm they sustained.

In light of the above, it is important to understand why nursing home abuse occurs.  According to the FBC study as well as a variety of additional credible resources, the following are the top causes of abuse:

  • Nursing homes require more professionals.  According to the FBC report, there were only seven states with more than one hour of professional nursing care per resident per day.  This is simply not enough.  Typically, individuals in nursing homes are there in the first place because they are in need of much more intensive, frequent and life-saving medical attention, oftentimes because they cannot care for themselves.  These medical conditions require regular, on-going and highly qualified professional care.
  • Most nursing homes are understaffed.  Almost all states have fewer than three hours of direct resident care each day.  This means there are a number of items that go unnoticed and/or unattended to.  This may be something relatively simple like going an extra hour without a change in bedding to something critical like a missed life-saving medication.  Notwithstanding, these serious types of errors can lead to severe abuse and neglect, leaving residents more vulnerable to falling, obtaining painful bedsores, and not receiving proper measures to maintain their proper hygiene.
  • Lack of staff training and resources.   Nursing homes are profit-focused businesses, like all others.  As such, they often take measures to cut costs and to save money as much as possible.  This could mean that they are not providing their staff with the proper training and resources necessary to appropriately care for their residents.  As such, this can lead to abuse and neglect simply because staff do not have the skills, training and experience necessary to provide the high level of care necessary for most nursing home residents.

Overall, there is no excuse for why nursing home abuse and neglect happens, making it important that those that cause harm are held responsible for their actions.  While Tennessee law protects the elderly’s rights in many respects, it takes a qualified nursing home abuse lawyer with the skills and training to effectively fight for them.  As such, when abuse occurs in a facility meant to provide comfort and care, the family should immediately seek legal help.  Accordingly, if you have a loved one that has been abused or neglected in a Tennessee nursing home, please call the law office of Bailey & Greer, PLLC today either toll free at 901-680-9777 for a free consultation.  We want to help you fight for the rights of those unable to fight for themselves.

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