Des Moines Nursing Home Dehydration Attorneys
Most nursing homes are staffed with caring professionals who do all they can to care for the residents properly. Unfortunately, other nursing homes are not, and these negligent facilities must be held accountable. Whether that means screening employees more carefully, firing those who fail in their duties, or implementing rules to protect their residents better, nursing homes should exercise utmost vigilance in protecting their residents from all kinds of nursing home abuse. If you or a loved one has been a victim of nursing home abuse, including from dehydration, filing a claim will help you right the wrong perpetrated against you and hold nursing homes accountable, preventing further abuse from happening to others. The attorneys at LaMarca Law Group, P.C. are here to help.
Dehydration is a slow and painful form of nursing abuse that is completely preventable but sometimes difficult to detect. The experienced Des Moines nursing home dehydration lawyers at LaMarca Law Group, P.C. are committed to holding accountable those who harm one of the most vulnerable segments of our society. If you or your loved one has suffered from dehydration in a nursing home, you may be entitled to compensation for your pain and injuries.
Call us today at (515) 705-0233 to learn more about your legal rights. In this advanced age of science and technology, there is no excuse for those who have contributed so much to society to suffer from dehydration.
Do I Need A Lawyer?
Dehydration is such a serious and potentially deadly form of nursing home abuse. When you place a loved one in a nursing home, you expect a high standard of care to be upheld. You likely went to great lengths to research and find a place that promised to provide quality care for your loved one. Having that trust violated compounds the trauma of seeing a loved one become a victim of nursing home abuse. Because you need to focus on helping your loved one (or yourself) recover, you should retain the help of an experienced nursing home abuse attorney to fight your legal battles for you. An attorney experienced in nursing home abuse, including dehydration, knows how to stand up to powerful nursing homes that have significant assets to protect themselves. With the help of a dedicated law firm such as LaMarca Law Group, P.C. on your side, the likelihood of a successful outcome to your claim increases significantly. Let an attorney tackle the task of facing the nursing home so you can take on the work of helping your loved one along the road to recovery.
Dehydration in Nursing Homes
Dehydration occurs more often in nursing homes than most people realize. The elderly population is becoming larger than it has ever been in history. This boom in nursing home residents tests the limits of many facilities that find it challenging to provide proper care. One clear indicator that a nursing home is falling short of its responsibility to its residents is when dehydration occurs. Lack of water and electrolytes compromises even the healthiest body, but it is especially damaging to the body of an older adult. Older people naturally have less water volume in their bodies, making them more susceptible to dehydration. When a body is in a state of dehydration, it cannot fight off infection properly or recover from injuries efficiently. Nursing homes may overwork their staff, leading to neglect and malnutrition. Given that dehydration can lead to organ failure and death, it is essential to be on the lookout for the signs of it so you can protect you or your loved one from dehydration in a nursing home.
How To Recognize Dehydration In a Nursing Home Resident
You may be wondering how to recognize the signs of dehydration. If you suspect that you or your loved one is suffering from it, consider the following symptoms that often indicate dehydration:
- Increased Infection: Bacteria thrive in bodies that are low in water volume. Bladder infections, for example, occur much more frequently when someone is dehydrated and cannot easily flush out the bacteria by drinking water or other liquids. Recurrent infections may be a sign that your loved one is suffering from dehydration.
- Fatigue and Weakness: The lack of sufficient water in a body causes a person to feel abnormally tired and weak. Just as an athlete cannot perform optimally when in a state of dehydration, an elderly person’s daily activities are much more difficult when the body is suffering from dehydration.
- Weight Loss: As every wrestler or jockey knows, the easiest way to drop pounds is by losing so-called water weight. In an elderly person, the loss of weight due to insufficient water is dangerous because an older body cannot bounce back from electrolyte imbalance that accompanies dehydration.
- Organ Failure: The body is comprised mostly of water, and when the organs are deprived of this essential ingredient, they cannot function properly. Insufficient water to the brain, for instance, leads to rapid cognitive decline.
When visiting an elderly relative in a nursing home, be vigilant in looking for signs of dehydration. If you suspect that neglect or abuse is occurring, do not hesitate to contact a lawyer immediately.
Contact Us
The attorneys at LaMarca Law Group, P.C. have vast knowledge and successful experience in defending clients suffering from all kinds of nursing home abuse. If you or a loved one is a victim of nursing home abuse, you deserve to have the best representation possible to help you receive fair compensation. You have enough to worry about in dealing with the aftermath of abuse. Let the nursing home abuse attorneys at LaMarca Law Group, P.C. fight your legal battles. Their resources and experience ideally position them to investigate and litigate your claim and make it as strong as possible.
The sooner you enlist the help of an attorney and begin the process of seeking justice, the sooner your family can focus on recovery and moving forward with life.
Call us today at (515) 705-0233 for a free initial consultation of your case.
Causes of Dehydration in Nursing Homes
Nursing homes are profitable businesses in this era of a growing elderly population. Unfortunately, many nursing homes focus too much on the profitability of their business rather than on the responsibility associated with it. This inattention leads to neglect and abuse. Some of the reasons dehydration occurs in nursing homes include the following:
- Higher Susceptibility to Dehydration in Older Adults: As bodies age, they naturally struggle to maintain the water volume they once had. This already lower water volume in the elderly makes them more susceptible to dehydration. Older adults also have a poor sense of thirst, leading them not to notice thirst as readily as they once did. Many medications that older adults take cause dehydration if not adequately monitored. These factors create a greater risk for nursing home residents to becoming dehydrated.
- Improperly Trained Staff: Finding and retaining qualified nursing home staff is a major challenge for many nursing homes. This shortage leads to lowered standards for staff and a willingness to hire those who are not sufficiently educated in the proper care of the elderly.
- High Staff Turnover: Another common cause of abuse in nursing homes stems from personnel problems. Low pay and stressful working conditions can lead many nursing home staff to quit after short periods of employment. Nursing homes with high turnover rates often struggle to maintain proper care of their residents. It is unfortunately easy for overworked staff to overlook the unique dietary needs of the residents, including the amount of liquids they require.
If you or someone you love has suffered from dehydration in a nursing home, you can put a stop to the abuse by contacting a nursing home lawyer from LaMarca Law Group, P.C.. They will advise you as you seek to remove your loved one from the perilous place they are in and help you to take decisive legal action against the parties responsible.
Your elderly loved one does not deserve the pain and humiliation of dehydration, and the nursing home abuse attorneys at LaMarca Law Group, P.C. will help you put an end to it.