Nursing Home Abuse: Who Are the Victims?
According to the Center of Disease Control’s (CDC) most recent report, the United States contains a projected 16,100 assisted living facilities. While this is the CDC’s most recent report on the subject, it was released in 2004 and one must assume that these numbers have grown in the past (almost) 8 years. In those facilities are about 1.5 million residents, 119,500 registered nurses, 184,000 practical nurses, 600,000 nursing assistants, and 12,500 nurse aides and orderlies. So to care for 1.5 million residents, there are 917,400 nursing staff members; effectively, there is 1 nursing staff member for every 1.64 residents.
Who Is Abused?
It is assumed that the elderly and disabled are the only ones plagued with abuse; however, staff members also find themselves abused. Below are statistics demonstrating each group’s abuses.
Residents of Assisted Living Facilities
One-in-three assisted living facilities in the United States have been reported for abuse and 90 percent have been cited for violations of varying degrees. Those residents that are victims of abuse find not only visitors and other residents to be their abusers, but staff members as well. The most common forms of abuse are emotional, physical, sexual, and financial abuses, as well as neglect. Of the 12,500 nursing aides, 5 percent have criminal records. Twenty-five percent of staff members prosecuted for any form of abuse was found to already have a criminal record.
According to a 2011 study conducted by the Journal for Elder Abuse and Neglect, the most vulnerable residents, i.e. those with physical or emotional ailments, are the most likely to suffer from abuses. The study admits that although it is most certainly an underestimate, 21 percent of nursing home residents were neglected in the past year. About 7.5 million residents also suffer from untreated pain. The CDC’s 2004 report found that 54,000 nursing home residents per year went to the emergency room due to an injury caused by a fall; 40 percent of those visits were preventable.
Another big problem in nursing homes is the over-medicating of residents. About 1,760 nursing homes have been cited for giving patients unwarranted prescription medications. The Journals of Gerontology conducted a survey of new residents in Florida nursing homes. The study found that 71 percent of new patients had been given at least one psychoactive drug. Fifteen percent were prescribed 4 or more psychoactive drugs and 71 percent of those prescribed psychoactive drugs had not been given a psychoactive diagnosis in the 6 months before their admission.
Resident-to-resident abuse does occur, though it is less common than staff-to-resident abuse. One Cornell University study found that in a two week period, 2.4 percent of residents experienced physical aggression from another resident while 7.3 percent were victims of verbal aggression at the hands of another resident. Another of the university’s studies found that in one eight-hour shift, nurses identified 17 episodes of physical abuse and 13 verbal abuses, all resident-to-resident in nature. This is thought to be due, in part, to the routine “dumping” of mentally ill patients into assisted living facilities instead of institutions for the mentally ill.
Staff Members of Assisted Living Facilities
Staff members also find themselves to be victims of abuse in nursing homes. According to one study conducted by a group of professors in Florida, 27 percent of all workplace related violence occurs in nursing homes; this makes it the highest occurrence of workplace violence in the U.S. Physical, verbal, and sexual abuses are endured by nursing home staffs. It is estimated that of all aggressive behavior taking place in nursing homes, 43 to 85 percent of it is repetitive; as many of the abuses are not reported, this is perceived to be an understatement.
Studies observing nursing homes found that 70 percent of staff members are assaulted at least once per month. Nursing assistants, who work closely with residents, found themselves victims of physical assault 9 times per month on average. And at least once in their careers, fifty percent of nursing home staffs suffered injuries, 38 percent of which required medical attention.