New York Cleanliness & Hygiene Lawyer
If your loved one contracted an illness in a nursing home, chances are that they did so because of the nursing home’s failure to provide a clean, hygienic facility for which your loved one to be treated and healed. While not every infection or infection complication—including death—is the fault of a nursing home, it is important to investigate any suspicions you may have. The New York cleanliness & hygiene nursing home negligence lawyers at Cohan Law Firm can help you get to the bottom of what really happened, and take legal action against the nursing home if we find any form of wrongdoing.
Nursing Home Cleanliness and Poor Hygiene is a Problem in Most Nursing Homes Throughout the Country
Nursing homes in America have a serious hygiene problem. When nine out of ten nursing homes fail basic hand washing rules (a survey conducted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid), you begin to understand just how bad this problem is. Nursing homes are essentially hospitals—hospitals for the most vulnerable members of society who are prone to infection, pneumonia, and other dangerous and life threatening illnesses. Cleanliness and hygiene should be a top priority among nursing homes, but the unfortunate truth is that many nursing homes and assisted living facilities prioritize profits before quality care. The majority of nursing homes are understaffed in order to cut costs. Many have poor managerial conduct, and staff members are often overworked and under-trained. All of these factors lead to dirty, unhygienic facilities in which infections can easily and rapidly spread from patient to patient.
Examples of Nursing Home Cleanliness and Hygiene Failures/Negligence
Proper cleanliness and hygiene include proper bathing of residents, hand washing, quarantining sick patients, scrubbing and disinfecting surfaces, proper disposal of medical equipment and all other refuse, using sterile gloves, using medical grade masks and N95 masks, cleaning and sanitizing floors, frequently changing bedding and clothing, spot cleaning, electrostatic spraying, and much more. There are proper hygiene and cleaning procedures for every scenario in a nursing home, which are obligated to have a high standard of care for patients in order to prevent the spread of disease. Examples of disease, including viruses, bacterial infections, fungi, and parasites, that are contracted in unclean and unhygienic nursing homes include the following:
- Viruses—Covid, the flu (influenza), respiratory infections, and norovirus.
- Bacterial—Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Pneumonia, urinary tract infections, streptococcus, and e. coli.
- Fungi — ringworm.
- Parasites—Tapeworm, scabies, and Giardia.
Call a New York Cleanliness and Hygiene Attorney Today
Nursing homes and assisted living facilities must invest the proper resources, time, and care into maintaining a well-functioning, safe, and clean environment for their residents. Failure to do so can result in what should be preventable harm for patients, including prolonged illness, and even death. If your loved one contracted any type of disease that caused harm, you may be able to seek compensation for them by calling the New York nursing home negligence lawyers at Cohan Law Firm today at 855.855.0321 to schedule a free consultation.
