logo

Law and Professional Issues in Home Care: Elderly Abuse and Neglect

   

Added on  2020-04-01

11 Pages2939 Words50 Views
Running head: LEGAL AND PROFESSIONAL ISSUESLegal and professional issuesName of the student:Name of the University:Author’s note

1LEGAL AND PROFESSIONAL ISSUESOlder people have all the right to be treated with respect and dignity whether they arebeing cared for in home or aged care setting. However, elderly people living in residential settingare often vulnerable to risk for abuse and neglect. The elderly abuse may be seen in differentforms such as physical abuse, sexual abuse, abandonment, passive neglect and exploitation andperpetrators of abuse may be either family members, health care or assisted living staffs andchildren. Health care workers may come in contact with elderly people who may disclose themabout harm or experiences of abuse and in such case it would be necessary for the health carestaffs to report about the issue in a legal and professional manner (Lachs and Pillemer 2015).This essay particularly discusses the legal and professional reporting that occurs post thedisclosure of abuse or harm by elderly people. It also discusses the implications of the processfor registered nurse and the delivery of nursing care. There are difference explanations for abuse in elderly people. It may take various formssuch as physical, social, sexual, psychological abuse and neglect. For instance, physical abuse isinflicted by hitting, pushing or striking elderly people with any object. Secondly, elderly peopleare also vulnerable to psychosocial or verbal abuse where intention pain or distress is given topeople in the form of humiliation or intimidation through verbal or non-verbal acts. In addition,the neglect of older person is seen when a care giver fail to carry out all obligations related tocare of older person and come in the way of well-being of the person (Bond and Butler 2013).Hence, it can be said that elder abuse is multifaceted and a major public health issues and it hasbecome paramount for health care worker to report about such issues to adults protective service.As nurses spend maximum time with elderly people, the compulsory reporting document by theAustralian Nursing & Midwifery Federation (ANMF) gave the position statement for nurse and

2LEGAL AND PROFESSIONAL ISSUESassistants in nursing to compulsory report about abuse in age care setting (ANMF PositionStatement 2017). According the Aged Care Act 2007, compulsory reporting is necessary in case ofunlawful sexual contact and unreasonable use of force in elderly people living in age care home.Compulsory reporting is the response that nurses must take on identification of abuse in elderlypeople and the key action is taken in accordance with the organization policies and protocolpresent at particular aged care setting or nursing home. Another legal obligation is to make theperson report about alleged abuse so that adequate investigation and action is taken to protectindividuals. Another key responsibility of the reporting person is to ensure that the person is notvictimized due to the reporting process (ANMF Position Statement 2017). Ensuring this isimportant because elderly abuse is always associated with psychological distress, hence itwarrants more attention be given to affected person as the negative experience lead todepression, anxiety and loneliness (Dong 2015). The key implication of identifying and reportingabout abuse in elderly person is that it will lead to improvement in education for health careprofessionals. This enable them to understand all the cultural and psychological nuanceassociated with abuse and improve the quality of care delivered to elderly people (Dong et al.2013). There is no comprehensive legislation for adult prptection in Australia, however the AgedCare Act 1997 gives a framework for provision of elderly care. The requirement for health carestaffs regarding the reporting about abuse in elderly people also given by the National LegalResponse report of the Australian Law Reform Commission. To protect the elderly people, itmandates that care gives or other support staffs should be encourages to report about abuse toadult safeguarding agencies (Reporting abuse | ALRC 2017). However, as people disclosing

3LEGAL AND PROFESSIONAL ISSUESabout elder abuse resist doing so because of fear of breaching confidentiality laws or fear ofreprisals from employers, the Public Guardian Act 2014 gives the mandates that head of anorganization should be responsible for protecting whistleblower and ensure that they are notsubjected to adverse consequences (Falk and Hoffman 2014). For health professionals like nurses and others staffs who have come to know about elderabuse in particular patient, they have variety of ways to report about the abuse. As per themandatory reporting law, they can report about abuse to Adult Protective Services. There arealso different protocols present in residential care centre or geriatric facility for report aboutabuse. However, the care giver or other professional must be aware about reporting elder abusein a safe and efficient manner (Queensland Government 2017). Following is the stepwiseprocedure used to safely report about elder abuse:Documenting the signs when suspecting abuse: To report about abuse situations professionally, it is necessary that the reporting personmust keep all documents to prove abuse in affected person. For this, proper assessment of theelderly person is required. For instance, they need to consider cognitive capacity, health andfunctional status of the person. Secondly, they need to preserve signs of abuse by takingphotographs of injuries in patients. Changes in behavior of older adults might also be anindication of abuse cases (Rankine 2017). The most important and crucial think is getting writtenstatement of patient related to experience of abuse as this legally important to prove suspicionsand start legal actions against the perpetrator quickly (Piel 2015). In addition, identifying thetype of relationship between the abuser and older adult to understand whether the client wish to

End of preview

Want to access all the pages? Upload your documents or become a member.

Related Documents
Abuse and Neglects in Elderly: Critical Analysis and Solutions
|13
|3590
|162

Legal and Professional Issues Nurses as Health Service Providers
|9
|2290
|397

Primary Healthcare Services for Older People
|2
|1259
|27

Assessment | lack of appropriate act happening
|7
|1641
|17

Hegemony - Elderly Abuse in Nursing Homes
|6
|1377
|304

Issues and Laws for the Aged in Australia
|7
|1399
|172