Nursing Home Abuse

Types Of Nursing Home Abuse

It is important to contact a qualified attorney as soon as possible if you suspect or know that your loved one is suffering abuse or neglect in their care facility. Nursing home abuse can be physical, sexual, financial, emotional, or psychological.

Examples of serious abuse in nursing homes include:

• Hitting, pushing, shoving, or other physical harm
• Sexual assault, harassment, or rape
• Improper restraints
• Isolation from friends and family
• Manipulating or forcing a resident to sign a will, contract, or other legal document
• Mental or emotional abuse, including verbal threats, babying, and silent treatment

Recognizing The Signs Of Nursing Home Abuse

In order to protect your loved one from further physical, mental, or emotional injuries, nursing home abuse must be stopped as soon as signs appear. That’s why it’s important to be able to recognize the signs of nursing home abuse whenever you visit or speak with an elderly loved one. They will often not speak openly about abuse because they don’t remember it, don’t realize it is abuse, or don’t feel safe enough to report it.

Be on the lookout for:

• Physical abuse: Violent and intentional physical abuse can cause unexplained wounds, like cuts and bruises. Your elderly loved one might also act fearful when around certain caretakers or residents.
• Complaints from your loved one or other residents: Be sure to listen to any complaints your elderly loved one has about their living conditions. What might seem like idle gossip should be taken seriously.
• Neglect: General neglect can be downright dangerous in a nursing home if it means an elder is not receiving the daily care and attention that they need to be happy and healthy.
• Unexplained infections or illnesses: A nursing home resident who is suffering from an unexplained infection or illness could be the victim of neglect. It can also be a sign that hygiene is inadequate throughout the living center.
• Overmedication: Inattentive caretakers can lose track of medication schedules, especially when there are dozens of elderly residents under their care. Overmedication and undermedication are serious issues that can cause various side effects depending on the medication taken or not taken.
• Malnutrition and dehydration: Two of the most dangerous forms of neglect are malnutrition and dehydration. Caretakers must make certain all residents are eating and drinking healthy amounts, even when they are uncooperative and do not want to eat.
• Bedsores: If an elder with limited mobility stays motionless in bed for too long, painful and potentially dangerous bedsores can start to form on their body. To prevent bedsores, caretakers should move immobile residents multiple times per day.
• Emotional abuse: Personality changes can be indicative of emotional abuse. Bitter and cruel caretakers may belittle, mock, isolate, or shout at elders throughout the day, gradually wearing down their happiness and possibly triggering mental health difficulties.

Nursing Home Risk Factors

Determining the risk factors of a caregiving facility may help determine the risk of nursing home abuse within that facility. The higher the number of risk factors, the higher the chances are your loved one could suffer abuse or neglect.

In some cases, the employees most likely to cause harm to patients are experiencing:

• High amounts of stress on the job or in personal life
• Financial or relationship problems
• Drug or alcohol problems
• Poor mental or physical health
• Isolation from society
• Growing distaste for the elderly, certain individuals, or people in general

Due to staff shortages at many nursing homes around the country, some caretakers who cause harm or neglect to their patients may simply be undertrained or overwhelmed. About half of nursing homes do not meet the minimum staffing requirement for nurse’s aides and caretakers.

Sometimes nursing home abuse can be provoked by a difficult or aggressive resident, although employees are trained to deal with those situations, and it is no excuse for abusing a resident. However, even those who are well trained to deal with this sort of behavior can be pushed too far, and it’s important to recognize when a possible problem may arise due to a strained or volatile relationship between a resident and their caretakers.

Advocating For Victims Of Nursing Home Abuse In Savannah

Attorney Jamie Casino and the rest of our Savannah nursing home abuse lawyers speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. Though you or your elderly loved one’s story is not our own, we are honored to be able to tell it.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a firm as dedicated to serving others as Jamie Casino Injury Attorneys. We consistently deliver aggressive, client-focused representation that gets results. Our team doesn’t tolerate bullies – we bring them down and hold them accountable for our clients’ injuries.

Call us at (912) 809-5335 or contact us online to get started on your case with a free consultation.