Nursing homes are responsible for the supervision and healthcare of vulnerable individuals, including seniors and disabled people. They owe patients respect, safety, and quality care—for moral reasons alone. However, there are also many more benefits to having high standards of care when operating a nursing home, apart from being morally and legally ideal. Ensuring your nursing home provides high-quality care is also a solid business decision. Improper safety and supervision can lead to catastrophic consequences for not just your patients but your nursing home as well.
Patient Safety
A drop in quality care means a drop in patient safety. Older adults and other patients need proper supervision, adequate security, and decent healthcare to stay healthy and thriving. Supervision can lead to dangerous wandering, falls, bedsores, sepsis, and even death. Nursing homes care for vulnerable people who rely on others for daily assistance. Patients are unhealthy and unsafe without high standards of care. Nursing homes are directly responsible for their patients. Not only are safety hazards harmful, they will severely damage a nursing home’s reputation and future success.
Fewer Lawsuit and Legal Expenses
When patients aren’t protected from physical, emotional, or financial harm in a nursing home, they won’t just move to a different community. They will likely pursue legal action against staff members or your entire business. Nursing home abuse in any form often results in extensive therapy, expensive medical treatments, and even wrongful death. Many attorneys specialize in representing nursing home patients or their family members after negligence occurs. When lack of supervision results in injuries from wheelchairs, patients can hire nursing home wheelchair accident lawyers. If they have received injuries, illness, or malnutrition from negligence, they can hire a nursing home abuse lawyer. Lawsuits are bad for business. You will likely have to settle with a lump sum in or out of court in addition to the cost of hiring counsel.
Regulatory Compliance
Nursing homes must operate under an adequate standard of care according to federal and state laws. Like any other medical facility, staff must be properly trained and licensed to provide quality care. They must also be adequately secure to adhere to HIPAA and other medical regulatory standards. Complying with regulations avoids costly fines and reputation damage. Frequent regulatory violations may even permanently shut down the entire nursing home. Compliant nursing homes are more likely to draw in more patients.
Better Reputation
Quality standards are important for the success of a nursing home. When patients and family members tour and vet your community for safety, they will easily find the history of compliance violations, abuse allegations, and bad reviews. Word spreads easily, and patients are less likely to choose you over nursing home competition when you have a negative history. Your reputation is incredibly important for patient safety and business success.
Patient Retention
If you mistreat or neglect your patients, you will lose them. Not only will they move to better communities, but they can also die from mistreatment. Since nursing homes commonly provide care for older patients, they are more susceptible to fatal conditions that can stem from neglect, like sepsis or malnutrition. The more patients you lose, the less you can turn a profit. You’ll also develop a negative reputation, which prevents new patients from choosing your nursing home as well.
Staff Retention
Patients are important, but they aren’t the only ones you need to worry about when quality standards drop. Staff typically aren’t willing to work for nursing homes that practice harmful behavior or neglect; they may find it morally objectionable. They also will not be dedicated to quality care. Poor-quality nursing homes do not provide positive workplace culture; pay is generally inadequate, and training is not up to standard. Staff will avoid working for you or quit after a short period. You may be able to hire new staff, but they quickly quit as well, leading to a high staff turnover rate. High staff turnover means more overhead costs when hiring more staff that stay for even less time than their predecessors. You want your employees to enjoy working for you and remain loyal to your company, which can only happen when they are properly trained and cared for. Employees need to be treated well in addition to patients.
Conclusion
If you run a poor-quality nursing home, it’s not just a moral failing—it’s a costly business mistake. You’ll lose profits, reputation, staff, and patients. Medical facilities like nursing homes cannot cut corners or improperly train employees; it can literally cost lives. Be certain to provide thorough training to all employees you hire and ensure they are fairly compensated with benefits. Dedicate your nursing home to delivering top-notch care: safety precautions, careful supervision, enrichment activities, and tailored medical care. Safeguarding society’s most vulnerable should be good ethics and good business.
