Nursing Home Neglect

Staffing Ratio Negligence: The Root Cause

Behind every bedsore, every fall, every infection is usually one problem: not enough staff to provide proper care. We expose the corporate decisions that prioritized profit over your loved one's safety.

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Key Takeaways

Understaffing causes neglect: Most nursing home injuries trace back to too few staff
It's a corporate choice: Facilities cut staff to maximize profit for shareholders
Staffing records are evidence: We obtain logs proving inadequate coverage

The Impossible Math of Understaffing

When nursing homes cut staff, the math simply doesn't work. Consider what one CNA responsible for 15 patients must do in an 8-hour shift:

Required Care Per Shift (8 hours, 15 patients)

Repositioning (q2h):10 min × 4 turns × 15 patients = 600 min (10 hours)

Mealtimes (3 meals):20 min × 3 meals × 15 patients = 900 min (15 hours)

Toileting/changing:10 min × 4 times × 15 patients = 600 min (10 hours)

Bathing/hygiene:20 min × 15 patients = 300 min (5 hours)

Documentation:5 min × 15 patients = 75 min (1.25 hours)

Total Required: ~41 hours | Available Time: 8 hours

This is mathematically impossible. Something gets skipped—and that's when bedsores develop, calls go unanswered, and falls occur.

Corporate Greed Drives Understaffing

Understaffing isn't an accident—it's a business decision. Here's how the industry works:

Private Equity Ownership

Many nursing homes are owned by private equity firms seeking maximum returns. They extract profit through management fees, real estate schemes, and staffing cuts.

Labor is the Biggest Cost

Staff wages represent 60-70% of operating costs. The easiest way to increase profit is to cut staff—regardless of patient consequences.

Corporate Shield Structures

Operators use multiple LLCs, separate companies for real estate vs. operations, and management agreements to protect assets from lawsuits. We pierce these structures.

Regulatory Penalties Are Cheap

Fines for understaffing violations are minimal compared to labor savings. Facilities calculate that it's cheaper to pay fines than to adequately staff.

Proving Understaffing in Your Case

We obtain and analyze the documents that expose staffing decisions:

Daily Staffing Logs

Nursing homes must maintain staffing records. We analyze actual staff-to-patient ratios on the days your loved one was harmed.

Payroll Records

Payroll data shows actual hours worked. We compare staffing levels to industry standards and facility-stated policies.

State Inspection Reports

Oklahoma DHS inspections often cite staffing violations. Prior citations prove the facility knew about understaffing and did nothing.

Corporate Financial Documents

Budget documents, profit margins, and management fees reveal choices to underfund staffing while extracting profit.

Staffing Evidence Supports Punitive Damages

When understaffing is proven, it doesn't just support compensatory damages—it supports punitive damages. Punitive damages are designed to punish conduct that is:

Willful and Wanton

Corporate decisions to cut staff despite knowing patients would be harmed demonstrate conscious disregard for safety.

Profit-Motivated

When a company chooses profit over patient safety, juries are often willing to impose significant punitive awards.

Pattern of Conduct

Prior state citations for understaffing prove this wasn't an isolated mistake—it was policy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Federal regulations require nursing homes to have 'sufficient nursing staff' to meet residents' needs. Oklahoma follows these federal standards. While specific nurse-to-patient ratios vary by resident acuity, facilities are required to have enough staff to provide proper care. We analyze staffing logs against care requirements to prove violations.

When one CNA is responsible for 15 or more patients, basic care becomes impossible. They can't turn patients every 2 hours (bedsores), respond quickly to calls (falls), monitor for symptoms (infections), or provide adequate nutrition and hydration. Understaffing isn't just a staffing problem—it's the cause of 90% of nursing home neglect.

Labor costs are the largest expense in nursing home operations. Private equity firms and corporate chains that own nursing homes maximize profit by minimizing staff. They calculate exactly how few people they can employ without losing licensure. Residents suffer so shareholders can profit.

Understaffing itself isn't a separate cause of action, but it's critical evidence in negligence cases. We prove: (1) the facility was understaffed, (2) understaffing caused inadequate care, and (3) inadequate care caused your loved one's injury. Understaffing exposes corporate decision-making that prioritized profit over safety.

Expose the Corporate Decisions Behind Neglect

Understaffing isn't an accident—it's a choice. We follow the money, expose profit motives, and hold corporations accountable for harming your loved one.

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