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North Carolina Nursing Home Neglect: Dehydration | NC Nursing Home Negligence Lawyer

In April, a widow filed and won a nursing home neglect lawsuit for $6.5 million. In the case, Peter Southard died of dehydration and kidney failure after a 15-day stay at a nursing home in which he did not receive enough fluids. He was found in a urine-soaked bed, covered in rashes, and died two days later.

How common is nursing home dehydration? All too common. And dehydration can arise over a number of issues at the adult car facility or nursing home:

• A patient is not given a sufficient amount of fluids to stay hydrated.
• A patient is not given enough food to stay hydrated.
• A nursing home does not keep accurate records on patients and do not meet their needs.
• A nursing home does not have well-trained staff that understand the importance of fluids, especially in elderly or immobile patients.
• A nursing home does not have a large enough staff, making it difficult to fulfill all of the patients’ basic needs.
• Nursing home staff does not have accurate knowledge of a patient’s beverage preferences.
• A nursing home does not correctly assess a patient’s dietary requirements.
• A nursing home is simply neglectful of a patient’s needs.

Some nursing home patients are more prone to issues of dehydration than others. In the case above, Southard had suffered a stroke and was not able to accurately know when he was thirsty or needed water. In other cases, patients with dementia, mental illness, or Alzheimer's may not know their needs. In addition patients on certain medications or patients with certain urinary or digestive issues may be more likely to suffer from dehydration – and it’s serious consequences.

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