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Should your loved one be transferred to a hospital?
Suppose your loved one has a terminal illness that requires around-the-clock care; you can enroll them in a nursing home to help ensure their health is always supervised. That said, you should know that there are instances when your loved one may require a higher level of medical attention.
Knowing when a nursing home should transfer your loved one to a hospital can help you advocate for them during their times of need. Recognizing these scenarios is vital to preventing complications and can help ensure they receive the best possible care.
Sudden onset of severe symptoms
Nursing home attendants are trained to provide a level of care that helps meet your loved one’s daily needs. Therefore, suppose your loved one experiences a sudden onset of severe symptoms; they may require more urgent medical intervention at a hospital. Some symptoms that may indicate your loved one needs a higher level of medical attention include:
- Chest pain
- Difficulty breathing
- Acute abdominal pain
- Loss of consciousness
Failure to seek immediate hospital care may complicate your loved one’s health and risk their life. This is because these symptoms could signal:
- A heart attack
- Stroke
- Severe infection
You should know that nursing home staff should be trained to identify these serious symptoms and initiate advanced medical intervention. Therefore, the facility’s failure to transfer your loved one to a hospital when the need arises may signal nursing home neglect.
You cannot always be there to assess your loved one’s health and intervene, and you shouldn’t have to worry about their well-being constantly. The nursing home facility has the moral and legal obligation to provide rapid transportation to a hospital, especially in cases like heart attacks when every second counts.
Trauma from falls
Falling may be a common risk for your elderly loved one due to your reduced balance. Should older adults fall at the nursing home, they may sustain:
- Bone fractures
- Head injuries
- Joint dislocations
In such predicaments, your loved one should immediately be taken to a hospital for evaluation and treatment.
Realizing that your loved one’s health was compromised because a nursing home facility did not take them to a hospital when the need arises can be disheartening. Should this situation ever unfold, with appropriate legal guidance, you can learn the legal actions you can take to hold a facility accountable and help prevent such an incident from happening to another resident.
