How to Help Nursing Home Patients During National and International Health Crises

When a national or international health crisis arises, our older population tends to be more vulnerable to the disease or virus. In a nursing home, where older patients are supposed to be cared for, there can be a dangerous spread of the sickness if the nursing home does not take serious precautions. Here is how nursing facilities, caregivers, and families  can help elderly patients during times of health crisis.

COVID-19 as a Case Study

After experiencing COVID-19, we can see that healthcare systems and nursing homes needed to improve many elements of their policies to ensure they are prepared for future pandemics. Nursing homes are especially important to focus on because their aging, vulnerable populations pose a high-risk environment. Nursing home patients consisted of 25% of deaths from COVID in the U.S. and this percentage was even as high as 50% in other countries.

If patients commonly have pre-existing health conditions, and if the staff is not equipped with the supplies they need, then everyone in a nursing home will suffer the consequences from a viral outbreak. Improving a nursing home’s clinical risk management can help improve the facilities’ abilities to care for their patients and staff. This may entail improving patient visitation policies, managing distanced interactions, and preventing staff shortages.

Patient Visitation Policies  and Managing Distanced Interactions

Patient visitation policies may need to be adjusted during health emergencies, to minimize the risk of bringing the virus or disease into the facility. This element goes hand in hand with managing distanced interactions. Unfortunately, nursing home patients will feel isolated if they cannot see visitors, especially during tough times, so there should be systems in place to mitigate this isolation. Nursing homes should consider installing video technology so that patients are able to talk to loved ones frequently.

Regardless of an Active Health Crisis, Get Legal Help if a Nursing Home Is Not Caring for Your Loved One

In a nursing home, you expect your loved one to be cared for with the utmost professional care, but sometimes these facilities do not have the best practices in place, which can put your loved one’s health in jeopardy. If you find that your loved one is not being properly cared for in a nursing home, whether or not there is an active health emergency, please call the team at Fleschner, Stark, Tanoos & Newlin. Our trustworthy nursing home abuse attorneys can help you hold negligent facilities or workers liable for the harm they caused.