Many nursing home residents enter the facility with serious heart conditions. Heart failure will be the cause of death for some of these residents, and their deaths will be no fault of the nursing home. However, other residents with heart conditions may be harmed by a nursing home’s negligence.
Nursing Homes Have a Duty of Care to Residents With Heart Conditions
Nursing homes owe a duty of care to all residents. That means that nursing home staff must act with reasonable care to keep each resident safe. For a nursing home resident who has already been diagnosed with a serious heart condition this may mean:- Making sure the resident takes the right dose of an ACE inhibitor, beta-blocker, or other prescribed medication at the right time
- Documenting the resident’s medication intake in her chart so that medication errors are not made
- Getting the resident medical attention if the condition seems to worsen or there are any signs of an imminent problem.