The abundance of medical and law terms may be hard to understand for most families whom may have a loved one under the constant care of a facility. If there is a legal term that you are not sure of, and feel that a facility may have made a violation of the law, consult a nursing home abuse attorney to further understand your questions. A term that will be discussed here and is often used in medical conversation is “standard of care.” Standard of care can be difficult to understand because it can range
in meaning. This article will generate a more basic
understanding of what standard of care refers to and
whom or what it protects.
What is the Standard of Care?
Despite not having a medical definition, the term is identified generally by law as “the level of care, skill, and treatment that, under the circumstances, is recognized as acceptable and appropriate by reasonably prudent similar health care providers.” (Reinhart) In simpler terms, it means that a physician and all other medical staff are held to care for patients at the same level that other facilities do within their practice.
Standard of care plays a significant role in the world of physicians and all other medical staff. This is a term that physicians are required to go by not only as commitment and healthy practice, but they are held responsible to practice standard of care by state and federal law. If standard of care is not practiced, it can result in serious injury, harm to a patient or residents overall health, and can even result in death. A nursing home abuse attorney can help you to determine if you or a loved one were under the care of a facility that did not abide by this standard.
A case in which standard of care was violated—
In 2012 a nursing home resident passed away sadly due to facility staff that violated standard of care. The patient was admitted to a facility with a stage one pressure ulcer and was at risk for developing new and worsening skin breakdown, dehydration, malnutrition, and was dependent on staff for all care. Upon arrival of the resident’s admittance, the resident did not have proper skin assessments under the standard of care, which led to mistreatment of the resident. For example, the patient had matching skin care assessments, which indicated the falsification of documents and brought the validity of the entire nursing home chart to question. The resident was admitted a total of seven times, however there were only four assessments completed. The standard of care requires that assessments of residents be performed upon admission and each readmission to a nursing home facility. Failure to complete an admission skin care assessment accurate is not only a violation of the standard of care, but is also a violation of state and federal regulations.
Because the facility did not follow the resident’s plan of care, the resident’s wounds continued to worsen and eventually turned into unstageable pressure ulcers. Overall, documentation of the resident’s pressure ulcers was not reported. In addition to the pressure ulcers, the resident suffered from malnutrition at the facility. Although malnutrition was stated on her assessments, there was no plan in place regarding the malnutrition. Due to this, it led to mistreatment and an eventual diagnosis of a UTI, sepsis and osteomyelitis (bone infection). The overall mistreatment and end diagnosis led to a wrongful death of the resident.
This pain and suffering due to wounds and infection of the resident could have been prevented had the facility practiced standard of care. Not only can the violation of standard of care put a resident through an excess amount of pain and suffering, but it can also increase the amount of medical bills for the resident due to surgeries and all other illnesses caused by mistreatment. If you feel that you or a family member has been mistreated due to standard of care, you may be able to compensate for the pain and suffering and high cost of medical treatment with the help of a nursing home attorney who has a concentration in nursing home neglect or abuse and wrongful death.
The Law Offices of Steven J. Malman & Associates, P.C., are located conveniently in the center of the loop in Chicago and are available 24/7. The attorneys at Malman Law have successfully compensated millions of dollars for clients and their families who have had to unfortunately go through comparable experiences. Call the office today to speak to an experienced nursing home abuse attorney for a free consultation.
Bio: Lisa is a guest blogger for Malman Law, a law firm that focuses on personal injury, nursing home abuse, car accidents, workers’ compensation, and medical malpractice cases.
