Nursing homes in Manhattan and all over the United States have an obligation to care for their residents in every way possible. They must provide for residents’ physical and mental well-being, and they must protect them from other abusive, unruly and even dangerous residents.
Earlier this year authorities claimed that a nursing home resident passed away due to blunt-force trauma after a physical altercation with another resident who was 20 years younger. This brought to light a report that indicated that the nursing home allegedly did not adequately protect the deceased resident from the other volatile resident.
In fact, health officials believe that the administration never put in to effect care plans for disorderly residents. One man, who was referred to as resident No. 5 and appears to be the same man suspected in the death of the elderly resident, came into the assisted living facility with a history of violence. Administration never created a plan to handle resident No. 5’s aggressive behavior even though the home’s guidelines state that they have two weeks to put the plan into place and that it must be updated every quarter.
According to a federal inspection, administration was well aware of resident No. 5’s history and the fact that he threw chairs and insulted others while staying at another facility. Additionally, a man referred to as resident No. 2 had a couple of run-ins with other residents. An inspector noted that documentation referred to resident No. 2’s issues but no follow up plan was recorded.
Nursing home neglect is serious and should be properly addressed right away. Even if the nursing home administration and staff are not directly harming the residents, they still may be held liable for failing to protect them from the actions of other residents.
Source: Alexandria Times, “Nursing home homicide exposes previous problems,” Enrich Wagner, August 29, 2013