Nursing home residents depend on adequate staffing to receive proper care, but in Indiana, chronic understaffing has reached a crisis level. According to an IndyStar analysis of federal data, Indiana ranks 50th out of 50 states and Washington, D.C., for total nurse staffing hours per resident, after adjusting for how sick residents are—a drop from an already alarming ranking in 2020, you can find the full article here at IndyStar (Cook). With only Illinois ranking lower, this dire statistic raises serious concerns about resident safety, quality of care, and potential nursing home negligence (Cook).
Why Adequate Staffing Matters
Nursing home residents, especially those with significant medical needs, depend on nurses and aides for essential care such as medication management, mobility assistance, and hygiene. When facilities are understaffed, residents face delayed or missed medical care, increased falls due to lack of supervision, higher rates of pressure sores from infrequent repositioning, medication errors with potentially life-threatening effects, and poor hygiene leading to infections. Simply put, chronic understaffing in Indiana’s nursing homes puts residents’ health, dignity, and safety at serious risk.
How Indiana Nursing Homes Try to Operate with Too Few Staff
Staffing represents one of the larger expenses for a nursing home. So, when nursing homes want to improve their bottom line they often skimp on necessary staffing. The result is that too many nursing homes attempt to stretch minimal staffing by overloading employees with excessive workloads, making it impossible to provide proper care to each resident. Facilities often fail to replace absent staff members, resulting in severe shortages during nights and weekends. To cut costs, they may assign untrained or underqualified staff to tasks beyond their expertise or rely on temporary workers who are unfamiliar with residents’ needs and facility protocols. These cost-cutting tactics put residents at risk while allowing facilities to continue collecting profits at the expense of patient care.
Why Nursing Homes Want to Hide Understaffing Issues
Nursing homes often conceal staffing shortages to avoid regulatory fines, lawsuits, and reputational damage that could reduce admissions and revenue. Acknowledging inadequate staffing would expose systemic mismanagement and profit-driven policies that prioritize financial gain over resident care. To mask the problem, some facilities manipulate records, overstate staff numbers, or train employees to downplay concerns when families inquire about care quality.
What Families Can Do to Protect Their Loved Ones
Families must remain proactive in ensuring their loved ones receive proper care despite severe staffing shortages. This includes monitoring for signs of neglect, visiting frequently at different times, and directly questioning staff about care levels. Requesting medical records can help uncover inadequate treatment, while reporting concerns to regulatory agencies may prompt investigations. If a loved one suffers harm due to neglect, consulting a nursing home negligence attorney can provide legal recourse and hold facilities accountable.
How to Research Nursing Home Staffing Levels
Families can investigate nursing home staffing levels by using resources like the Nursing Home Compare website from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This tool provides data on nurse staffing hours, staff-to-resident ratios, health inspections, and overall quality ratings for facilities nationwide. The website’s five-star rating system can offer a starting point for evaluating a nursing home’s quality of care, but families should also conduct in-person visits, ask direct questions, and verify information with state regulatory agencies to ensure their loved one receives adequate attention and support.
Conclusion
Indiana’s second-to-last ranking in nursing home staffing is more than just a statistic—it’s a warning sign. Understaffed facilities put residents at severe risk, increasing the likelihood of neglect, injury, and preventable health complications. Families must remain vigilant, ask questions, and take legal action when necessary to protect their loved ones. Until systemic changes are made to improve staffing levels, nursing home residents in Indiana remain in jeopardy.
The Powless Law Firm is an Indiana law firm that represents victims and families state-wide in serious cases involving nursing home neglect, medical negligence, birth injury, personal injury, and wrongful death. If you have concerns about nursing home negligence, please contact us at (877) 769-5377. Together we can make a difference.
Works Cited
Cook, Tony. “Residents Suffer as County Hospitals Divert $2.6 Billion from Poorly Staffed Nursing Homes.” Indianapolis Star, 18 Mar. 2025, https://www.indystar.com/story/news/investigations/2025/03/18/county-hospitals-divert-2-6-billion-from-poorly-staffed-nursing-homes/80468299007/. Accessed 19 Mar. 2025.