Maryland Nursing Home Abuse
Nursing Home Abuse – Are Surveillance Cameras the Answer?
As our elderly loved ones age, it becomes an increasing priority to care for them and their health. If affordable, nursing home care can be an option to care for our elders. In fact, an article in the Elder Law Journal states that approximately half of Americans over age 65 will be admitted to a nursing home in their lifetime, and projects such numbers to increase in the future. Although we would much rather be by our loved one’s side caring for them, often this is not a possibility. Paying someone else to care for them on a full- time basis should be the next best thing.
Although many nursing homes provide exceptional care for residents, sometimes the staff members allow patient’s needs to suffer. This is a problem affecting many nursing homes throughout the country. There is a wide range of estimates regarding instances of neglect and deficiency in such homes. An estimate at the low end of the scale finds that approximately 30% of the nursing homes nationwide have such severe deficiencies to warrant the implementation of sanctions. Additionally, a study by the Florida Agency of Health Care Administration has reported that about one out of 20 nursing home patients will experience some sort of abuse while in the facility.
In New York, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has decided to use hidden cameras (often dubbed “granny cams”) in nursing homes to help reduce the incidences of such abuse, and aid in prosecution when it does occur. The way this procedure works in New York is that the hidden cameras are placed in the rooms of residents with the knowledge and permission of the residents and their families. The nursing home staff, however, will remain uninformed. The video cameras have the additional capability to be monitored in real time. The reasoning for not telling the nursing home staff is that the nursing home abuse will not be captured if the staff knows they are being watched. This camera monitoring system has already proven useful, and has been used by the attorney general’s office in the prosecution of four cases, which resulted in 26 convictions.