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Caring for older relatives can be challenging, particularly when they require significant medical intervention on a regular basis or help with daily activities. At times, the best option is to entrust their care to others in nursing homes, to ensure they receive help whenever it is needed. For most people, this will involve moving your loved one into a nursing home.
Unfortunately, that care is not always up to the standards that we would expect for our loved ones. According to a recent study conducted by Families for Better Care, many nursing homes fail to provide adequate care for their residents.
The researchers evaluated nursing homes in all 50 states based on a number of factors, including the staffing levels, the number of complaints received, and inspection scores. Many states – including Mississippi – received poor or failing scores.
Reasons for Mississippi Nursing Homes Poor Score
Overall, the Families for Better Care nursing home report gave Mississippi nursing homes a “D” rating – ranking 35th across the country.
The nursing homes in Mississippi received particularly poor scores when it came to staffing levels in the facilities. Maintaining appropriate staffing levels is critical to ensuring residents receive proper care. If the facility is understaffed, the chances increase that a resident will suffer an injury, fail to receive needed medical care or be allowed to wander off the property, a situation referred to as elopement.
In Mississippi, nursing homes provide an average of just 2.4 hours of direct staffing care to residents each day. Only about 60 percent of the long-term care facilities in the state have above-average direct care staffing levels. In addition, residents receive an average of just 0.7 hours of care from an RN every day – just slightly over 40 percent in the state have above average RN staffing levels.
Mississippi also ranked poorly when it came to the number of nursing homes that received above-average health inspection reports. In total, only 34 percent of the long-term care facilities in the state ranked above average when it came to inspections – ranking the state 32nd in the country.
In addition, nine out of every 10 complaints filed against nursing homes in the state were verified – ranking the state 41st in the nation.
If you have a loved one in a Mississippi nursing home who you suspect has not been treated properly, you should be aware of your legal options. Consult with a knowledgeable personal injury attorney to ensure your loved one’s rights are protected.
