New Jersey Nursing Home Lawyers
Medication errors are a very dangerous problem in nursing homes. A single error can be fatal, and the grim reality is that medication errors are not uncommon. There are many factors which contribute to medication errors. Nursing homes have a duty to implement proper policies, procedures, and record keeping to protect residents from this preventable harm. If your loved one has been the victim of medication error in a nursing home our New Jersey nursing home lawyers can help.
How Medication Errors Occur in Nursing Homes
Many nursing home residents take multiple medications, and they may be prescribed by more than one doctor. In addition to their prescriptions, residents may also take over-the-counter medications. The potential for harmful medication error is high, under these circumstances, but there are ways to significantly reduce the risk and prevent injuries and death.
Causes of medication errors in nursing homes can include:
- Inattention by those administering medications
- Failure to shake or properly measure liquid medications
- Failure to remove a medicated patch before applying a new one
- Poor record keeping
- Failure to properly asses a nursing home patient’s needs
- Failure to monitor a resident after administering medication
- Inadequate policies and procedures for administering medications
- Theft of medications by nursing home staff, sometimes replaced with other medications
- Overuse of sedatives to minimize individual attention to nursing home residents
As with other forms of nursing home negligence, the underlying cause of medication error is often understaffing and hiring of undertrained or under-skilled staff members. A lower staff-to-resident ratio can mean higher profits for the nursing home facility. Hiring staff members with less training or experience means that nursing homes can pay those staff members a lower wage, also resulting in more profit.
If you or a loved one has been the victim of nursing home neglect or abuse in New Jersey, please call our New Jersey nursing home lawyers today or submit an online questionnaire. The initial consultation with our nursing home lawyers is free, and if we agree to represent you, we will work for a contingent fee, which means we won’t get paid for our services unless you receive a settlement or an award. In New Jersey, a personal injury lawsuit must be filed before the expiration of the statute of limitations. Please call right away to ensure that you do not waive your right to possible compensation.