I Suspect Nursing Home Abuse, What Should I Do?

Without a doubt, you thought long and hard about the decision to place a loved one in a nursing home. You probably analyzed and evaluated each location to find the one that would provide the best care and most peaceful environment for your beloved family member.

It can be devastating and stressful to see that your loved one is suffering from nursing home abuse. What should you do if you suspect nursing home abuse? Do not delay in speaking with a nursing home abuse lawyer.

Phillips Law Group helps victims of nursing home abuse. To learn more about what legal options are available to you and your loved one, speak to us about your situation in a free and confidential consultation.

Call us at (602) 222-2222 or fill out our online form to speak with one of our attorneys.

What Is Nursing Home Abuse?

The job of a caregiver employed at a nursing home is to provide necessary care to a patient. However, caregiving work cannot be performed in a mechanical, calloused manner. The residents and patients in a nursing home are entitled to care performed with compassion and patience.

Nursing home abuse is when a caregiver deliberately harms a patient. Abuse could possibly be in the form of refusing to provide basic necessities. But it can also include the deliberate physical and financial injury.

Nursing home abuse can also come in the form of negligence. The nursing home faculty or staff can forget or ignore the needs of a patient. Whether nursing home abuse comes in the form of malicious actions or because of carelessness and inattention, the results can be equally painful and harmful.

How to Recognize the Signs of Nursing Home Abuse

Unfortunately, as we get older, our bodies bruise more easily. We may, with greater frequency, forget and lose items that are important to us. Your loved one in a nursing home, in the natural course of life, may experience these types of situations.

However, what are the indications that the above-mentioned examples and other questionable circumstances are more than just evidence of advanced age? What are the clues that the circumstances and behavior of your loved one are not just normal problems related to advanced years but rather hints of nursing home abuse?

The following is a list of signs, especially when combined, that can indicate nursing home abuse:

• Displaying fear of physical contact
• Socially withdrawing
• Completely uncommunicative
• Residents strangely sedated
• Disarranged living conditions
• Bank account withdrawals without explanations
• Inadequate hygiene maintenance
• Weight loss
• Poor skin condition and bed sores
• Unexplained injuries
• Indications of dehydration
• Marks on the body from restraints
• Fractures and broken bones
• Genital bruising indicating sexual abuse
• Unknown injuries and bruises

Seeing signs such as these mentioned above can be emotionally crushing and worrisome. If you have seen evidence of abuse, you should speak with a nursing home abuse attorney right away.

Examples of Nursing Home Abuse

Circumstances of nursing home abuse vary. The cause of nursing home abuse can range from intentional aggressive behavior by nursing staff to neglect and inattention. According to a recent World Health Organization study, a shocking 64 percent of nursing home staff said they had committed some form of abuse or neglect.

Frequently, nursing home abuse is the result of insufficient staff, untrained or unqualified personnel, delinquent management of the nursing home, or miscommunication on the part of nursing home administrators.

In many cases, nursing home abuse and neglect can include:

• Physical violence and abuse
• Preventable slips and falls
• Unsuitable confinement and isolation
• Emotional abuse
• Verbal abuse
• Intimidation
• Failure to help the patients remain clean
• Failure to ensure proper nutrition
• Sexual assault and inappropriate physical contact
• Bedsores and other serious infections
• Identity theft, money theft, forgery
• Extortion of patients and their families
• Overmedicating patients (unintentionally or intentionally)

Your loved one deserves to be treated with respect and dignity, and it is reasonable to expect that your loved one receives adequate and prompt attention. Thus, you should speak to a nursing home abuse attorney if he or she is not receiving these things.

Your loved one deserves justice, health, and safety. In addition, your family deserves to be compensated for any injuries and damage your loved one has experienced.

Can Nursing Home Abuse Victims Receive Compensation?

Victims of nursing home abuse can often receive restitution for damages. Compensation can come in the form of economic damages, non-economic damages, as well as punitive damages.

The specific details of your case will affect the amount of restitution you receive. For example, a nursing home abuse case that involves physical injuries which result in hospital stays and medical attention may result in a compensation amount that is different than if personal property is stolen or damaged.

The three categories under which compensation is typically awarded in a nursing home abuse case are the following.

Economic damages

Economic damages can include the cost of property that is stolen, lost, or damaged. It can also encompass medical costs connected to abuse or neglect done to the victim. 

Compensation can be received for:

• Stolen property
• Stolen money
• Doctor visits
• Hospital expenses
• Medical testing
• Physical therapy
• Future medical care

Non-economic damages

Not all abuse results in physical injuries or monetary losses. Even still, a victim can experience intense suffering. This suffering can also receive monetary compensation. 

This type of restitution can include the following:

• Mental suffering and emotional anguish
• Psychological distress manifested in anxiety, fear, depression, and sleeplessness
• Depression and related negative emotions that stem from irreversible damage caused by nursing home abuse

Punitive damages

A monetary penalty can be imposed on the nursing home as punishment for their inappropriate treatment of elderly residents. This penalty is meant to deter other nursing homes and staff from duplicating similar nursing home abuse.

A nursing home abuse lawyer can analyze your loved one’s nursing home abuse experience, his or her injuries, and material losses to determine what type of compensation your loved one may qualify to receive. This ensures that your loved one can receive the full amount of compensation that the law makes available.

Don’t Let Your Suspicions of Nursing Home Abuse Go Unanswered

It is reasonable for you to expect that your loved one will receive proper attention and care when he or she is placed in a nursing home facility. Intentional abuse or neglect by a staff member is unacceptable. If you suspect your loved one has been or is the victim of nursing home abuse, you can get help.

The attorneys of Phillips Law Group will not be intimidated by nursing home staff, their insurance agents, or their lawyers who may oppose your suspicions. We understand the stress that you may be feeling because of nursing home abuse. We can work quickly and assertively to remedy the situation for your loved one and get you the compensation you deserve.

We want to bring the parties responsible for abusing your loved one to justice. While we do this, you can focus on giving your loved one the love and attention he or she needs now more than ever. An experienced nursing home abuse lawyer can provide you with the necessary legal assistance you and your loved one require.

Please get in touch with the personal injury lawyers at Phillips Law Group. We are ready to help. You can call us at (602) 222-2222 or fill out our online form to speak with one of our attorneys.