Nursing Home Workers Cleared of Willful Neglect, Judge: Nursing Home Owners Responsible

According to the nursing home's records, Ms. Barnes received less than 10% of the food and water a grown adult should. Prosecuting attorney Felicity Gerry, advocating against nursing home abuse, claimed the staff were more interested in getting ready for Christmas than taking care of residents.

The Spalding Guardian reported two of the care workers testified that the staff at Adderley was often too busy to accurately record food and drink given to patients and that the records were therefore incorrect. While under oath one worker said, "I am confident there was always someone to help Edna eat her meals and to encourage her to eat and drink. We could encourage her to eat but we were not allowed to force her to."

The other worker who gave evidence was related to Ms. Barnes and said, "We did all that we could. Edna did not want very much. She was very hard to feed, but we tried. It was hard work." No evidence was offered against the four defendants as the diagnosis of willful neglect was based on the thought that the records were accurate.

On the directions of the judge, the four were formally acquitted by the jury. The judge told the jury, "If there was a failure it may have been a failure to employ enough staff. The owners of the home would be responsible for that. It is very clear from the evidence you have heard that everyone working at the home did everything they could."

As a Florida nursing home neglect attorney , I know that unfortunately sometimes homes are simply short staffed. Neglect can occur not because of a lack of attentiveness by staff, but because of a lack of staff. In cases like these, the nursing home owners who failed to hire enough people to adequately care for patients must be held accountable for any nursing home neglect residents suffer.