When it comes to operating the best nursing homes in Florida, there are some key tips that administrators can use to make sure their facilities are excelling in taking care of our senior citizens.
Some of them cost significant amounts of money, and some are more difficult to put in place, but some are astoundingly easy. One of them is having a visitor’s log for residents. It doesn’t cost much, but it’s pretty important.
Providing a Welcoming Atmosphere
Having a nice visitor’s book in the lobby of a nursing home or anywhere else can send a message to visitors that the facility is actively thinking about families coming in and spending time with their loved ones. Lots of nursing homes invest in some decorations to put around the visitor’s log book that say things like “Welcome” to evoke a sense of family togetherness.
Nursing home staffers can utilize a visitor’s log book to understand which family members are more engaged in a nursing home resident’s life (of course always observant of privacy rights) and accommodate that engagement. It’s a way to bring people together around the idea of caring for someone who is confined to a nursing home.
Documenting Entrance and Exit
There’s also a much more technical reason for keeping a visitor’s log. The logbook establishes who was around a nursing home resident at any point in time.
This can come in handy in situations where people must investigate nursing home abuse or neglect. If there’s a careful record of who was in the facility at which time, it becomes easier to look into any issues that come up and address them head-on. Not having a clear record can lead to all sorts of ambiguity and confusion.
Visitor’s Logs and Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect
In the unfortunate case that something bad is happening to a nursing home resident, family members or those who are concerned will want to see these and other records. They will want to understand who has access to that individual, and how they’re being cared for – for instance, records of the following:
- Medication schedules
- Feeding
- Family visits
- Combined staff and family visits
- Individual staff visits
It’s when you start to parse all these things together and examine them critically that you can find the facts in a case of nursing home abuse and neglect. In some cases, nursing home facilities may be able to put a family member’s fears to rest. In other cases, the family may need a professional nursing home abuse and neglect lawyer to come in and help them to advocate.
If you have any questions about the welfare of a family member in a Florida nursing home, call the law office of Steve Watrel. We take pride in helping families to look into these types of troubling allegations and get to the heart of the problem. Let us help you to seek justice for your family under the law.
