Nursing homes in the United States are doing great service to families of elderly people. It's a pity that some families do not have the time and patience to take care of their elderly members such as their parents and grandparents. But thankfully, there are nursing homes that can do the job for them from bathing the old folks, changing their clothes, feeding them, to entertaining them and putting them to sleep.

Senior citizens aged 65 and above account for most of the residents in nursing home facilities. As of 2004, there were 16,100 nursing homes with 1.5 million residents or 86 percent occupancy rate in the U.S. based on the National Nursing Home Survey.

Sadly, abuses have been found to be increasing in these facilities for elderly folks. Nursing home abuse cases vary from one facility to another with some initiated by staff members and the others caused by the residents. Cases may involve from as simple as neglect to worse cases such as physical injury, emotional, verbal and sexual abuse. What's unfortunate is that many of these cases were not reported leaving the victims still fearful.

The management of the nursing home facility is responsible for taking the necessary disciplinary actions immediately after an abuse is reported. If a staff is the one involved, it's the nurse executive's responsibility to protect the resident and immediately transfer the alleged wrongdoer to another area with no access to residents notably during the investigation proceedings.

The standard procedure is for the head of the facility to immediately conduct an investigation on the abuse issue. Should the nurse executive is not available, the nurse in charge or supervisor present during the incident can start the investigation. Normally, an incident report has to be made. This needs to provide information on the activities taking place at the time, names and statements of staff on duty, details of the resident abused (physical assessment) as well as statements from witnesses, the violator and other residents.

However, while it may be alright to just move the wrongdoer to the kitchen or laundry area of the facility when the matter is looked into, there are still risks involved. If the person alleged to have initiated the abuse remains in the facility, the risk remains and is even greater when there's less supervision in new area where that staff is assigned.

A Federal regulation calls on all nursing home facilities to ensure that violations including neglect, mistreatment and abuse are reported right away to the administrator and other officials. Reporting of violations to the facility's management should be done foremost prior to investigating the issue. Only when criminal cases such as rape occur should the police be notified although some organizations say this should not be so.

Nursing home lawyers also exist to help families who may have complaints regarding their elder's facility and nursing care. They can provide professional advice on what steps to take should families wish to pursue a legal case against the facility or a staff member who initiated the abuse to their loved ones.