A negligence claim against your nursing home can cause serious harm to your reputation, preventing you from fulfilling your duty to provide care and treatment to elderly New York residents.
Even a claim of negligence that ultimately proves to be false can have a negative impact on your nursing home for years to come. It helps to know what steps you can take to prevent negligence claims.
Staffing and training
Proper staffing and adequate training make a huge difference in the quality of care your nursing home provides. Take staffing and training seriously.
Have robust and thorough hiring processes in place to ensure you are hiring the most qualified people for the positions. Evaluate each employee’s strengths and weaknesses and place them in the positions their skills will be utilized.
Conduct regular training to keep staff up to date on any changes to policies and obtain any feedback on issues. Pay attention to any friction between staff and residents. Sometimes relationships between certain staff and residents can go sour or not be a good match and a change may help ease tensions and reduce the chance of a negligence accusation.
Policies and procedures
Nursing homes typically have written rules and policies they must follow. Your policies should be well-written and thorough, including describing how to handle conflicts or disputes that arise.
Stress the importance of following these guidelines, keeping communication lines open with staff. Foster a culture of open communication and accountability.
When a policy is violated, follow up with any appropriate response to reinforce the importance of following policies. This will likely greatly reduce your chance of an abuse or negligence claim.
Have staff document interactions with residents, particularly negative interactions. This documentation will be crucial evidence if a resident files a negligence claim against your nursing home.
Address fall prevention
Falls are a major cause of injury and negligence claims in nursing homes. Place special emphasis on fall preventions strategies to help reduce the chance of a liability claim from a fall.
Create individualized care plans for residents that include fall risk factors and conduct regular assessments to ensure the care plans are current. Make sure the physical nursing home environment is safe and free from danger. Provide regular education on fall prevention and assistive devices to residents who need them.
Implementing these strategies can help you create a safer environment for staff, improve quality of care and reduce your risk of costly claims.
Following these policies cannot guarantee that your nursing home will never be accused of negligence. However, if a negligence claim arises, you will be ready to defend yourself against the claim.
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