I am moving my mom into a nursing home and they include a form for me to
sign waiving them of ANY liabilities for wrong doing. They also state that they
will not be watching the residents all the time and that they will be left alone, possibly for extended periods of time.
They also state if we expect the patient to have closer supervision, we should hire a private nurse! Wow, I guess, that's the norm now, whether you're having an operation or anything else done, everyone wants us to sign a waiver so that we won't hold them responsible even if they are negligent.
I don't like signing these forms, but I am sure they won't even entertain admitting someone that doesn't. Can anyone that may have admitted their loved one recently, shed any light on this matter for me?
Yes, it is impossible for the nursing home to have someone with Mom 24/7. My Mom was a climber-out-of-bed and she kept falling, the nursing home also recommended that we hire a Caregiver to watch Mom at night.... we just couldn't afford to do that as Dad was now having 24/7 caregivers at his house as he was also a fall risk and there were a lot of stairs in their house.
The facility my Mom was in had private rooms and rooms with another person. We choose a room-mate situation as my Mom didn't like being alone. Plus the room-mates Mom had were of clear mind so each one she had would ring the Staff any time my Mom was trying to climb out of bed or if she fell. Elders can fall in a split second.
Generally you have the legal right to ask for copies of documents that you can examine at your leisure or take to your own legal counsel, but if you ask for that you would get a look like you were an alien from another planet, and let's face it, most of us don't have a lawyer on retainer who can go over our documents.
I'm not sure what the answer is, if you really want the contracted services you are pretty much compelled to sign. Just make sure to sign everything as POA so you can not be held personally responsible!