Pleasant Law Blog (Insurance Claims, Medical Misakes, and Nursing Home Claims)

Nursing Home Nursing Directors: Staffing Problems Biggest Headache

By Thomas Waitt Pleasant, North Carolina Nursing Home Lawyer, Insurance Lawyer and Medical Malpractice Lawyer. McKnight’s reports that staff recruitment and retention are huge headaches for directors of nursing in nursing homes. (see http://www.mcknights.com/DONs-most-stressed-over-staff-issues-long-term-care-survey-suggests/article/121274/?DCMP=EMC-MCK_Daily) My personal opinion (and I think, fairly, the opinion of many other lawyers and attorneys handling nursing home injury, abuse, and wrongful death cases) is that this is the “root of all evil” in nursing homes, so to speak. Generally speaking, it seems that the nursing home industry has had little trouble making money and being profitable generally. (Big equity firms like Carlyle Group don’t buy unprofitable businesses, or at least businesses that they don’t think can be turned around in order to make a lot of money.) But nursing home jobs aren’t that much different form other industries in terms of attracting good employees – the market demands a certain wage; and if the nursing homes are not willing to pay the market wage to get enough decent employees, they will not get enough decent employees. Result: harm to nursing home residents from lack of staffing. Nursing homes must get their homes staffed properly in order to avoid hurting their patients. Increasing staffing will also, apparently, help reduce some of the stress now on their directors of nursing – which will itself likely help nursing homes avoid problems with their resident care, and avoid abuse, neglect, injury and wrongful death. Contact me at The Law Offices of Thomas Waitt Pleasant, PLLC for a free consultation if you or your loved one has suffered injury or harm as a result of a nursing home’s negligence or bad care. We will make the evaluation process easy for you, and will consider cases in any region of North Carolina. Specifically, we have locations in Raleigh, Wilmington, and Fayetteville. Toll Free 888-435-7156.