Nursing Home Negligence and Prevention

Court systems statewide are noticing increasing rates of nursing home negligence and elder abuse. The economic crisis is tempting too many caregivers to take advantage of these sensitive individuals.

The jump in abuse is creating an ever more competitive environment for nursing homes. Families are double checking safety and negligence records of nursing homes to ensure that such abuse doesn’t happen to their loved one.

Even if the nursing home does have a reliable record, it does not guarantee your family member will not be abused. Such unfortunate events are rarely to be blamed on supervisors, managers, and other higher level staff, rather they are simply the symptoms of an unjust caregiver.

If abuse is suspected and has supporting evidence, an elder abuse lawyer, nursing home abuse lawyer, or a nursing home negligence attorney can assist in obtaining compensation. Different cases receive varying levels of compensation. In some instances, a situation may be settled out of court.

Cases of elder abuse, not matter how small, can be a huge setback for any home health care business trying to entice new customers. To prevent such situations, provide incentives for experienced caregivers. Maintain yearly and quarterly caregiver training meetings. Require background checks for caregiver applicants and invest in random drug screening. Those not able to deal with the stress of caring for another individual may react inadvertently. Caregivers that are educated about dealing with stress and are provided with outlet options will be less likely to abuse their clients.

Home Care on top of the list of Top Twelve Jobs for growth in U.S.

A recent report by the U.S. Department of Labor reinforces our projection that home care related jobs will continue to be in great demand, and that recruiting and retention will be the major strategic issues facing home care executives who want to grow their businesses.

If you want to grow your business, you need to get better at recruiting and retention.

Here are the Top Twelve Jobs for Growth between 2004 and 2014 on the Labor Departments list:

1. Retail Sales - need 736,000 or 17.3% growth
2. Registered nurses - need 703,000 or 29.4% growth
3. College teachers - need 524,000 or 32.2% growth
4. Customer Service Representives - need 471,000 or 22.8% growth
5. Janitors - need 440,000 or 18.5% growth
6. Waiters and Waitresses - need 376,000 or 16.7% growth
7. Food Service Workers - need 367,000 or 17.1% growth
8. Home Health Aides - need 350,000 or 56% growth
9. Nursing aides, orderlies, attendants - need 325,000 or 22.3% growth
10. General and operations managers - need 308,000 or 17% growth
11. Personal and Home Care Aides - need 287,000 or 41% growth
12. Grade school teachers - need 265,000 or 41% growth

As you can see, the two fastest growing occupation by % are Home Health Aides at 56% and Personal and Home care aides at 41%.

For information on how Leading Home Care can help you develop your recruiting and retention plan, vist our web site.