Incidents associated with nursing home negligence and abuse are increasing as more and more baby boomers head in that direction seeking nursing facilities. It is especially important for regulatory agencies to keep a close eye on what nursing homes are doing and how they are treating residents. Recently, health inspectors who visited a nursing home in Paradise, California, found that there were several violations there. According to a news report in the Chico Enterprise Record, Pine View Care Center was cited for such things as being harsh and rough with a patient, allowing patients to wander outside the facility and failing to deal promptly with a patient's infection.

The report states that Pine View was cited for problems twice as often as any other facility in Butte County last year. And most of the other nursing homes in the county also did receive several citations in 2009. Only three nursing homes had no citations at all.

Several Violations in California Nursing Home

However, the cited incidents at Pine View seem egregious. One of the incidents that Pine View received a citation for concerned a 94-year-old woman who had to be admitted to an acute care hospital after treatment of her bladder infection was delayed. The woman was in excruciating pain and became confused and lethargic. In another case, a paralyzed woman sat in her feces for five hours because she was afraid to call for help. Apparently, a staff member at the nursing home had told her that she shouldn't have to clean her up. In yet another shocking incident, a developmentally disabled 61-year-old woman was found outside the nursing home's back door lying facedown with her wheelchair on top of her.

Facilities Lack Trained Staff Members

Apparently, these are not even considered the "most serious" violations in the state of California. So, here's the question. Would you or should you entrust your loved one to the care of a nursing home where the above-mentioned incidents have occurred? I wouldn't. Any of these cases could have resulted in serious personal injuries or could have become potentially fatal to these frail residents. The nursing home is lucky that these incidents were not fatal. How many incidents do we come across where nursing home residents die because of poor personal hygiene, bed sores, infections and falls? It happens a lot and in most cases, the reason for it is the nursing home's lack of qualified, trained staff.

Why don't nursing homes have qualified trained staff? Because, a higher caliber of staff member comes with a bigger price tag and nursing homes that put profits before the people they serve, just don't want to spend that kind of money on people who can provide quality care to residents.

We are not representing any of the parties mentioned in this article at the time the article was posted. Our information source is cited in the article. If you were involved in this incident or a similar incident and have questions as to your rights and options, call a reputable law firm. Do not act solely upon the information provided herein. Get a consultation. The best law firms will provide a free confidential consultation to "not a fault" persons named in this article and their family members.