Elder Abuse in Nursing Homes In the United States, the largest number of people over the age of 65 was recorded in the 2010 census at 40.3 million, which comes out to about 13% of the population. This is expected to increase for the next few decades. By 2050 the elderly are are expected to take up 20% of the population (Population 65 Years and Older by Age and Sex 2010 - U.S Census Bureau). The size of the elder population has a huge impact on elder abuse and neglect in Nursing homes. Elder abuse is often a masked and overlooked problem in our society, with many different forms, it is not always noticeable. Elder mistreatment is defined as intentional actions that cause harm or create a serious risk of harm (whether or not harm is intended) to vulnerable elder by a caregiver or other person who stands in a trust relationship to the elder. This includes failure by caregiver to satisfy the elder’s basic needs or to protect the elder from harm ( Elder Mistreatment - Bonnie R. Wallace). 4 million older americans are victims of abuse every year. This includes physical, emotional, sexual, financial, neglect and abandonment. Physical, emotional, financial, and neglect are the most persistent. Physical abuse is defined as inflicting pain on a vulnerable elder. This includes punching, kicking, pinching, force feeding, and restraint. However depriving someone of their basic needs such as not feeding and bathing them, not giving them their medications, or giving them to many of one medication also falls under physical abuse. Signs a person is being physically abused are not always noticeable to the eye. Sometimes you can see changes in their behaviors. If they were once happy and have all of a sudden become withd... ... middle of paper ... ...or naps. Once that is complete it is time for lunch where the whole process starts over again. Some states have come up with laws that limit the number of residents one person can take care of. This takes a lot of pressure off the staff, they can then focus more on their residents needs instead of wondering if they are going to get the things they need to get done on time or not. Here in Wisconsin there is not currently a law that limits the number of residents one caregiver can take care of. There is only a law that states for 1-59 residents there must be a charge nurse or RN on staff during the day, for 60-74 residents a charge nurse or RN must be at the facility 24/7 and for 100+ residents there must be 1 DON and 1 RN on duty or on call. Nothing for the direct staff though (Nursing Home Staffing Standards in State Statutes and Regulations- UCSF 2007).
According to Missouri's Department of Health and Senior Services, there are three things that elder abuse can be classified as. It can be classified as abuse, neglect, or likelihood of serious physical harm. While all of these classifications sounds quite similar, there are some subtle differences. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services defines abuse as " the infliction of physical, sexual, or emotional injury or harm including financial exploitation by any person, firm, or corporation" ("Protective Services For Adults," n.d., para. 4). Elder neglect is "the failure to provide services to an eligible adult by any person, firm, or corporation with a legal or contractual duty to do so, when such failure presents either an imminent danger to the health, safety, or welfare of the client or a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm would result"("Protective Services For Adults," n.d., para. 4). Abuse, neglect, as well as likelihood of serious physical harm are all reportable by law. ("Protective Services For Adults," n.d).
Some of these cases of abuse are done in elderly homes by family members. In the first section of the article, the authors discuss the definition of elder abuse. The authors began with the most common types of elder abuse, which are physical and neglect. Elder abuse is the intentional use of physical force that results in acute or chronic illness, bodily injury, physical pain, functional impairment, distress, or death (Choi NG & Mayer J. In summary, the rhetorical analysis essay discusses how elder abuse and neglect affect the victims physically, emotionally, and professionally.
Elder abuse is causing emotional, physical or sexual harm, financial exploitation, or intentional or unintentional neglect to someone of greater age, whether it be from a family member or a stranger. Elder abuse has been a social issue for many years prior to any kind of legislation being made. Victims of elder abuse are often older adults ages 60 to 75 and the person abusing the elder is usually someone the victim knows, but could be a stranger in certain cases.
In the medical field, the workers are highly trained to be able to make a distinction between what is right and what is wrong. Elder abuse is becoming a serious issue in the health environment. As defined in the website, MedicineNet.com, elder abuse is: “the physical, sexual, or emotional abuse of an elderly person, usually one who is disabled or frail”. The older population consists of people over sixty-five years old. They are very fragile and sometimes they are forgotten or abused. The elderly can be victims of mistreatment in nursing homes, hospitals, or even in their own house. Nursing is the act of promoting health for others, and of providing care and security with the skills nurses have acquired. However, those who are nursing can also harm, or hurt people by advising them. Elder abuse can take many forms such as financial abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and emotional abuse.
Of nursing home staff interviewed in 2004, nearly 40% admitted to committing at least one psychologically abusive act toward a resident and 10% admitted to physically abusing a resident in the preceding year.[1] Not only are nursing home residents at risk of being abused by their caretakers but they are also at risk of being restrained, which may lead to a form of abuse. With five percent of the elderly population, or one to two million instances of elder abuse occurring yearly there is no doubt that elder abuse deserves serious consideration.[2]
To prevent elder abuse, Robinson, Saisan, and Segal recommend practicing stress reduction strategies when the aide begins to feel overwhelmed. Joining a support group is also suggested so support can be gained from people in the same situation. It is important for the overwhelmed healthcare provider to realize that there are others going through the same situation. Nerenberg suggest that employee screenings should be improved by include background checks and police reports (28). Also, it is necessary for there to be a feasible workload to ensure that the nursing aide can provide quality care for the residents. If the workload is not manageable, the aide will likely be forced to spend less time with each resident causing the care to not be sufficient or of great
Now, you can see that nursing home abuse is a big problem in America. You might want to get involved in our local program against nursing home abuse. I will leave you with one last statistic, 1 out of every 8 nursing home patients are abused in some way. Wouldn’t you like to help them?
Elder abuse in nursing home is a social problem that has had more and more attention in these recent years. “Elder abuse is the most recent domestic violence issue to gain the attention of the public and the medical community.” (Elder Abuse: A Review) According to the Senate Special Committee, about 5 “million older Americans are abused and neglected every year.” Abuse for the elderly can be considered a social problem due to the people who are in denial of it actually occurring, for example, the caregivers and nurses who do not consider themselves to be actually performing the abuse. It is a problem because the elders are put into these nursing homes by loved ones and ones who
Physical abuse is any non-accidental physical injury to a child. Physical abuse is an injury that results from physical aggression. Types of physical abuse can consist of beating, whipping, hitting, pinching, biting, or spanking.
In order to understand how abuse has an effect on the elderly we must first understand the different types of elder abuse. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) can aid in understanding the different forms by defining what each form entails (CDC, 2016). Physical abuse is the intentional use of physical force that results in illness, injury, pain, functional impairment, distress or even death. Neglect can be defined as failure by the
“Physical abuse is any intentional and unwanted contact with you or something close to your body. Sometimes abusive behavior does not cause pain or even leave a bruise, but it’s still unhealthy” (e.g., “types of abuse,” n.d., para. 1).
450,000, that is the number of senior citizens who were abused nationwide in 1996 and this number is rising quickly("Navigation."). Elder abuse is not a topic that is usually talked about, or known about too many, but it is a very serious issue. It can cause various effects on elders, not just in the physical sense, but the mental sense as well. There are a lot of simple things that community members can do to help battle against abuse. Elder abuse is happening all around us, but we do not have the knowledge or resources to help put an end to the hardship that these victims of abuse face.
According to Ellis and Boyce (2008), physical abuse is any form of unwanted personal contact towards another person or thing, which can cause physical pain, injury, or physical suffering. However Duhowitz and DePanfilis (2000) defined child physical abuse as an non-accidental form of contact towards a child by an adult, which can cause physical injury by kicking, slapping, beating, biting, or burning.
Caregiver abuse is another issue that occurs in retirement homes which are also underreported. Caregiver abuse can be physical, verbal, emotional, neglect, financial and social. CTV staff of W5 had reported that fifteen-hundred cases of staff-to-residents abuse in nursing homes in Canada (Sourtzis & Bandera, 2015). The news channel mentions that the number of senior’s abuse and neglect cases is likely to be higher, based on those that do not report the abuse. One case they highlighted was the story of Margaret Warholm, a seventy-four-year old mother who was placed in Santa Maria Senior Citizen’s Home by her family. Her family had carefully selected this home to treat their mom’s spinal problems. When Margaret’s symptoms worsen, staff members were advised that she was to remain in bed and not be moved for any reason. One day, two staff members tried to move Margaret from her bed to a wheelchair. They dropped her on the floor and did not inform the family of the incident.
Secondly, physical abuse is purposely causing physical harm or injuries to a child. Being physically abused includes being hit, kicked, or shaken. Parents who are abusive to their children often claim that their abuse is a form of discipline. There is a significant difference in abusing your child and trying to show them discipline. The whole point of using discipline is to show a child right from wrong. It becomes physical abuse instead of discipline when your...