Nursing Home Negligence
According to the United States' Administration on Aging, a division of the Department of Health & Human Services, as of 2003 approximately 12.3% of our population was 65 years of age or older. About one in every eight Americans is now over the age of 65, and the Census Bureau estimates that in another twenty years their numbers will grow to represent over 20% of our population. By the year 2020, the number of people alive over the age of 85 will nearly double (AoA, "A Profile of Older Americans," 2003).
In North Carolina, approximately 1.3 million people are over the age of 60 (US Census, "Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000). While a great many of them lead active, healthy lives, the sad fact is that many of our elderly cannot care for themselves due to illness, surgery, or physical frailty. Some may only require assisted living facilities for a short time, to recover from surgery, illness, or injury. Others may need to move into a nursing home where medical assistance is continually available on a permanent basis. The difficult and emotional decision process involved in moving one's parents or other loved ones into such a facility can be exacerbated by fears that they may be in danger from abuse or neglect.
The aging of a significant portion of our residents has led to substantial growth in the residential nursing care industry. Large corporations built a large number of for-profit "assisted living" facilities at a rapid pace during the 1990s, now considered a boom time for their industry. While these for-profit centers are highly visible, the majority of care facilities for older persons, sometimes referred to as "nursing homes," are smaller, independent operations run by families or small businesses, or facilities operated by non-profit organizations. These facilities primarily cater to lower- and middle-income individuals. Often these non-profit and smaller facilities do not hire well-trained individuals with the proper experience in caring for the elderly. Many organizations do not train their staff adequately to deal with the types of situations that can arise in nursing homes. These conditions, and many others, can lead to accidents and injuries inflicted on nursing home residents. There have also been cases where nursing homes may have consciously allowed negligent behavior or abusive behavior to occur. If you suspect that someone you love may have been injured in a nursing home, the counsel of an experienced personal injury lawyer who has dealt with nursing home negligence cases may be of great benefit.
