What Is Nursing Home Abuse?
Posted on: 10 March 2018
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When you select a nursing home for your loved one, you expect him or her to have a peaceful stay. Unfortunately, seniors are at higher risk for abuse and neglect than other populations. Nursing home residents are often more vulnerable to crimes like abuse and negligence -- but what can you do?
Personal injury attorneys understand the significance of abuse and the long-lasting impact it can have on an individual's life. They also know what kind of financial recourse you have access to if your loved one was a victim.
Physical Abuse and Neglect
Bedsores are just one common sign of nursing home abuse or neglect. They indicate that your loved one has not been moved as frequently as is healthy for individuals who need to spend long periods of time in bed.
Dehydration and malnutrition may also be grounds for a personal injury case. You trust nursing home staff members to provide adequate standards of care for your loved one, and failing to do so means they fail to meet the legal obligation.
Falls may exemplify the inability or failure of nursing home staff members to care for patients adequately. This may be an indicator of negligence.
Emotional Abuse and Neglect
Emotional abuse in a nursing home may encompass name calling and belittling, but it can also cause serious damage. Ine some cases, individuals suffering from emotional abuse have become anxious or depressed. Looking for signs of emotional abuse may be difficult and may require that you spend more time at the nursing home.
Sexual Abuse and Neglect
Staff members may participate in the sexual abuse of nursing home residents, but in some cases, fellow residents are involved. When residents are involved in sexual abuse, the nursing home may be liable for negligence resulting in the criminal actions of other residents.
Financial Abuse and Neglect
Nursing home residents are often vulnerable to theft and financial abuse. Staff members and other residents may steal actual items of value, but in many times this is not the case. Sometimes people write themselves checks or find ways to trick a resident to give them money, often for a service or good that the thief never provides.
The good news is that you have some recourse if your loved one is the victim of nursing home abuse. Nursing home abuse is often handled by personal injury attorneys. Make an appointment to meet with an attorney, like Wegner C Dennis & Assoc, to learn more about your options.