Nursing Home Lawsuits: Is Elder Abuse Worse?

A distressing recent trend that many people are noticing is the rise of Nursing home lawsuits all across the country, even around the world. There are a number of perturbing elements to this issue: The fact that quite a bit of elder abuse is hidden. It means that the victim is either unwilling or unable to tell anyone what's happening. Secondly, many nursing homes are severely understaffed. People with criminal backgrounds are often given employment since there are no efficient employee background checks.

Medicare has recently started a star system in an effort to reduce the number of nursing home lawsuits. This system basically works in the same way as a hotel or restaurant is given stars for service. Five-star ratings are given to nursing homes that perform excellently on the basis of recent inspections. A one-star rating is given to those that are bogged down with multiple problems.

But a number of people think that the rating system isn't enough. This system certainly does have the advantage of helping people out in comparing nursing homes quickly. But the American Health Care Association says that the criteria used just aren't enough. For one thing, the inspection process itself is flawed. Apart from that, input from family and residents is also necessary. It's also important to include past nursing home lawsuits in the institutions' profiles. While the star system might seem like a positive step in the right direction, there is still a lot that needs to be done in terms of curbing elder abuse.