One of the first things that our legal team does is to review the facility staff’s care plan. Was the plan appropriate, and was it followed? We may discover that staff members, nurses, and sometimes even doctors have not properly followed the care plan. This can sometimes be the root cause of neglect.

Nurse-to-resident ratios at nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities are often dangerously unsafe. According to nurse.org surveys, staff-to-patient ratios in some Georgia nursing home facilities are reportedly as high as 50:1 for nurses and 30:1 for certified nursing assistants. Such ratios pose an extreme risk to residents. 
Georgia law requires each shift to have at least one licensed or registered nurse on staff as well as one doctor, RN, and dentist. We have found that these requirements are not always being met. 
Understaffing is a major problem in the nursing home industry, contributing to much abuse and neglect. We expect this problem only to become worse due to the additional loss of staff caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Incidents of physical abuse by fellow-residents and by improperly hired or supervised facility staff members are shockingly common. Investigations often show that these events could have been prevented by having correct resident-to-staff ratios and properly trained, qualified workers. 

A vast number of injuries occur because patients wander around or elope from (leave) the facility. Failure to assist patients to the restroom or missing or improperly positioned bedrails or other protective equipment also lead to many injuries. We find that many of these incidents should have been easily prevented.

Nurses and other staff members are required to monitor the physical and mental condition of residents. They must report their conditions to senior staff and the resident’s doctor even if they are not in the facility. Failure to monitor patients, or document and report on their conditions, can lead to injury, infection, malnutrition, or death. 

When a resident—particularly one with diminished mental capacity—is injured, a facility and staff may attempt to alter or destroy records and evidence or lie about what happened. Fast, thorough, and detailed investigation combined with expert witness review of the records and facility can often detect such cover-ups. Evidence that a care facility has covered up an incident can lead to increased civil or even criminal penalties.