It’s not rare to hear people to criticize government regulations. Often, they don’t seem to make much sense. And yet, there generally is a reason for many of them. It usually doesn’t take long for the regulation being ignored to reveal the motivation behind it.
At the Village At Victory Lakes nursing home in Lindenhurst, Illinois, the Illinois state regulation being ignored was a simple one: No electric heating pads in resident rooms. It’s easy to see why this regulation might be considered unnecessary. After all, what harm could come of it?
The harm turned out to be a burn on a resident’s back that required 21 days of daily treatment to heal. In a way, the resident was lucky. It could have been much worse. A staff member performing physical therapy used the heating pad on the resident, and then left it behind. A Village at Victory Lakes Certified Nurses Aide (CNA) who was in the room to help the resident’s roommate get ready for bed saw the burn.
The CNA described the site as a “huge red area and blisters.” Luckily, none of the blisters became infected and the heating pad was removed before permanent damage was done. In other cases, such as smoking accidents in nursing homes, more serious injuries or even wrongful death can occur.
Nursing home neglect can take many different forms. At my law firm, our Chicago nursing home lawyers have investigated cases of nursing home neglect that involved:
- bed sores,
- nursing home falls,
- medication errors,
- malnutrition and dehydration,
- and many other kinds of injuries.
If you have a loved one that you feel has suffered abuse or an injury in an Illinois nursing home, and you feel that they have been the victims of nursing home abuse or neglect, contact my law offices for a free and confidential evaluation of your case.
Other blog posts of interest:
Resident suffers third degree burns in fall at Sauk Valley Senior Living