Okay, you first reaction is sure…the title is just more “spin” by a plaintiff’s medical malpractice and nursing home abuse lawyer. You are half right! I am a trial lawyer who represents the victims of medical malpractice and nursing home abuse and neglect…but the title to today’s blog comes from a nurse who works for nursing homes!
Tamara L. Hill, RN, lives in Jackson, Tennessee. As a former nursing-home nurse working in administration, there were multiple instances in which she had to beg corporate for things needed to provide basic patient care … soap, shampoo, gloves, bandages, dressings, towels, sheets, equipment and, of course, the staff to actually provide the care. She was often told that it wasn’t in the budget.
Sometimes the ONLY way she could get what was needed for the residents was to say “OK, but if I can’t get what I need for my staff to take care of them, then you are just buying a lawsuit.” Then, suddenly, someone “found” money in the budget to get the things the patient needed. If there were caps, then it would become a cost-benefit risk analysis, weighing a known cost (about 75 percent of the cap) and the savings (benefit) by not providing the staff, supplies and care vs. the risk that someone would take the lawsuit with caps in place.