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Malnutrition and Dehydration in Nursing Homes

A nursing home is supposed to be a place where a frail, ill, or disabled person will be watched out for, cared for, fed, and nurtured. When a nursing home resident dies, becomes seriously ill, or is injured, it may be a result of negligence on the most basic level, including:

  • Failure to monitor the resident
  • Failure to hydrate
  • Failure to give proper nutrition
  • Failure to monitor intake of food and liquids

It is not enough to simply place food and water in front of the resident at mealtime and assume he or she will eat and drink enough unassisted. Every nursing home or care facility is obligated to make certain that their residents are properly fed and hydrated. Staff members should monitor consumption of food and water to prevent malnutrition and dehydration. In addition, the resident should be weighed regularly. A decrease in weight may be a sign of malnutrition, and in some instances it can be a sign of nursing error or nursing home negligence.

How Jacobs & Jacobs Handles Malnutrition and Dehydration Cases

The challenge to prevent dehydration in a nursing home may be the result of one or more of the following:

  • Failure by staff to monitor a resident’s intake of food and liquids at mealtime
  • The elderly or disabled person may not “feel thirsty” as often as before due to the body’s slow shut-down of healthy mechanisms
  • The resident’s inability to voice needs such as thirst

If your loved one has suffered from malnutrition or dehydration at a nursing home, please call our New Haven nursing home negligence lawyers at (203) 777-2300. Our medical malpractice attorneys fight for the results you deserve.

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