Reasons Nursing Home Abusers Overuse Sedatives in Nursing Home Residents

Sedative overuse can occur for several reasons, some of which are intended and some of which are not.  Having a staff shortage in a nursing home and the lack of a good record keeping system can cause sedatives to be administered more than necessary.  Because records of administration are not being kept, one staff member may administer a sedative and another may administer the same sedative a short time later because the first dose was not recorded properly.  The same holds true for untrained staff members.  These inexperienced caregivers can administer too much of a drug without intending to or they can even give an unneeded dose if supervision and record keeping are not up to par. Sedative overuse can also be done intentionally by nursing home abusers.  These abusers want to gain control of patients for some reason or another, so they may administer too much of a sedative or may administer the sedative too frequently.  Sexual abusers may do this to make their victims more compliant and less able to remember what is happening.  Those abusers who want to commit theft from the residents may overuse sedatives to keep the patients from remembering what happened or seeing the theft take place.  Still other abusers use sedatives too much simply because they can make the patients sleepy.  This can cut down on requests for food, beverages, pain medication, and other needs that take up the time of staff members.  If you feel that sedatives are being overused on your loved one, contact a California nursing home abuse lawyer to find out how you can stop this abuse.