Nursing Home Negelect and Abuse in Mongerty County Maryland

Nursing Home Neglects and Abuse in Mongerty County Maryland
Name
Institution
Date
Social Injustice I Would Like To Learn More About
I would like to know more about how the elderly people are abused and neglected in nursing homes especially in Maryland. It is assumed that nursing homes are among the long-term care facilities that have been considered to provide good care for residents; others do not. I am also interested to know the roles caregivers play in nursing homes environment and the reasons why substandard medical care occurs.
My interest is to understand how a shortage of crucial medical personnel affects the services delivery in nursing homes. I would like to know why the medical personnel given the responsibility to watch over nursing homes do not provide quality care as required; this is because most of their actions result in medical malpractice and medical errors being witnessed in Maryland. One of the main concerns is the failure to carry out treatment or care plan. Failure to carry out care plan includes unauthorized use of medication or isolation as a form of punishment, for staff convenience. In some cases, medical staff can substitute treatment conflicting with physicians order (Department of Aging, 2011).
My main interest is to know the role of physician in nursing home care. In my view, he must be aware of the substandard care and routine neglect that may cause serious health deterioration, pain, and emotional trauma. The physician needs to analyze keenly the plan of care to monitor other medical personnel actions to detect any abuse or any action that might be termed as neglect (Department of Aging, 2011).
I would like to understand why nursing homes in Maryland are understaffed; this is because neglect is a common scenario due to lack of staff might result to improper medication, failure to assist with hygiene, failure to turn the elderly residents leading to other diseases like bedsore. In addition, nursing homes employees at times take advantage of the elderly as cases of theft, assault have been reported in the past (Department of Aging, 2011). I first learned about the Ombudsman program in 2014 when my father died out of neglect in one of the nursing homes in Mongerty County.
The Mission and History of the Ombudsman Program
The Ombudsman program in America was first initiated in 1972 as a demonstration program under the authorization of the Older American Act. The Long-term Care Ombudsman program was established to protect and also promote the rights and quality of life for the elderly people in nursing home settings.
In Maryland, the office of the state Long-Term Care Ombudsman program aims at improving the quality of life for the residents especially those living in nursing homes and assisted living areas. The office is responsible for certifying and training community ombudsmen whom most of them are volunteers. These volunteers work to help resolve concerns related to long-term care facilities acting as mediators between the facility staff and the residents (Department of Aging, 2011). Abuse and neglect in American nursing homes, especially in Mongerty County Maryland is a major concern.
This is the reason why in Maryland, a long-term care ombudsman program was initiated to serve the local community. The program helps residents especially the elderly in need of long –term care facilities; maintain their legal rights, and preserving their personal dignity. Families are encouraged to make complaints to the local nursing home ombudsman as stipulated by the Older American Act and Maryland law (Department of Aging, 2011). Other departments including the Maryland of Aging in partnership with the area agencies also provides leadership and advocacy for older people in Maryland through information education programs that promote and enhance their choices (Department of Aging, 2011).
Despite nursing homes being monitored by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, providing strict regulations for all the licensed nursing homes to abide by, some of these policies have not been effectively implemented resulting in several lawsuits. One of the requirements of the Code of Maryland Regulation includes self-regulation by setting their standards that are suitable to prevent abuse and neglect. This has not been attained. Several cases of abuse and neglect are still being reported annually in Maryland (Department of Aging, 2011).
There is a need for everyone to be a...