If Your Loved One Was Injured in a Nursing Home, We Can Help You Get Justice
The elderly population is in dire need of facilities that provide assisted living services and this demand is only growing. As lifespans increase and one of the largest generations reaches their golden years, nursing home populations have increased dramatically. Each nursing home lawyer who has handled these cases understand that this unfortunately has been accompanied by an increase in abuse.
Thus, further neglect of elderly residents of nursing homes. Nursing home abuse and neglect can inflict terrible injuries which in many cases could have easily been avoided had the nursing home not been negligent in some way.
Filing a nursing home abuse lawsuit can hold negligent nursing homes accountable for their actions and secure those harmed, compensation to help cover the damages they have suffered. Vulnerable residents of nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and even those assisted at home, can all be harmed by negligent care providers and may be entitled to compensation when they are abused or neglected.
If you or a loved one has suffered an injury due to the negligence of a nursing home while under their care, contact Turnbull, Holcomb & Moak today. React us at (205) 831-5040 or online for a free case evaluation, we are available to discuss your rights and options further.
Types of Nursing Home Abuse
Nursing home abuse is when a nursing home resident is mistreated in a way that leads to them suffering harm. This most often occurs at the hands of nursing home staff, although visitors to the facility, as well as other residents can be perpetrators of nursing home abuse. Abuse in nursing homes and similar assisted living facilities can take on a number of forms that each have their own ways of inflicting injuries.
Nursing Home Physical Abuse
Physical violence is a common form of nursing home abuse that causes especially severe damage to the elderly. As you age you become more vulnerable since your bones become more brittle, you lose muscle mass, skin breaks easier, and healing is slower. Something as simple as being pushed often doesn’t do much damage to the average person but can lead to much more severe harm to an elderly person since they can easily fall and suffer catastrophic injuries.
Physical abuse is much easier to carry out against the elderly compared to many other demographics since they have less ability to defend themselves which makes them an attractive target to abusers.
This abuse does not always entail the violent attacks often attributed to it. Physical abuse can consist of unnecessarily restraining a nursing home resident or even forcing a nursing home resident to take unnecessary medication against their will. Common examples of nursing home physical abuse include:
- Physical strikes (punching, kicking, slapping)
- Forcible restraint (tying down limbs or forcible confinement)
- Scratching or cutting
- Choking
Nursing Home Sexual Abuse
Nursing home residents can be the victims of sexual offenders that find their way into nursing homes. In many cases, sexual abuse is perpetrated by nursing home staff but anyone ranging from visitors to the facility to other nursing home residents can sexually abuse nursing home residents.
Nursing home sexual abuse can be suffered by nursing home residents of any gender, race, sexuality, age, or ability. This type of abuse consists of any sexual contact with an unconsenting nursing home resident. This includes nursing home residents that are unable to provide any effective communication of consent such as disabled nursing home residents with mental illness or immobilizing conditions. Nursing home abuse can include inappropriate touching, verbal sexual harassment, sexual assault, and rape. Sexual abuse is also regularly accompanied by other forms of abuse such as physical abuse and emotional abuse.
Nursing Home Emotional Abuse
Residents of nursing homes can face isolation, hopelessness, and other depressing thoughts as a consequence of their stay if proper measures are not taken. This can be made even worse by emotional abuse where a resident suffers emotional trauma and pain as a result of harmful actions taken by others. Nursing home staff can threaten, belittle, gaslight, and intimidate nursing home residents and cause the development of serious mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, and even PTSD. While this emotional abuse is not as tangible as something like a physical assault that leaves clear visible injuries, the damage done can still have very harmful consequences.
Nursing Home Financial Abuse
Nursing home residents are unable to work and therefore are in an extremely vulnerable financial situation that can be taken advantage of by others. This financial exploitation of nursing home residents is known as nursing home financial abuse. Nursing home residents can have many assets that can be stolen, extorted, or exploited via fraud. This applies to a nursing home resident’s money as well as their other valuables.
Financial abuse of nursing home residents can be carried out by a much wider range of parties that can include family members, lawyers, doctors, nursing home staff, accountants, and even other nursing home residents.
Nursing Home Neglect
A nursing home has a duty to provide residents with a safe and healthy setting in which they can receive care while living through their later years. This can take much more work than many realize and nursing homes can easily fail in this task which often leads to serious harm to residents. The neglect of nursing home residents can be the ground to file a lawsuit since it does violate a duty an assisted living facility has to their residents and in many cases leads to severe harm. This neglect is considered a form of elder abuse and those harmed by nursing home neglect deserve compensation.
Nursing home neglect involves a failure to provide essential services to nursing home residents. Nursing home residents sometimes will suffer the neglect of basic living needs like proper nutrition, water, hygiene, and even proper living facilities like bathrooms and beds.
Medical care needed by many nursing home residents can also be a source of neglect. Nursing homes staff can fail to give those under their care medication, incorrect dosage, or the wrong medication. They can also fail to move residents with mobility problems which can lead to bedsores.
Nursing Home Abuse Damages
The damages caused by nursing home abuse can be extremely severe considering how vulnerable the elderly are. This is not only the case with economic damages like medical bills but also true when it comes to the many non-economic damages abuse causes such as pain and suffering, mental anguish, and loss of enjoyment of life.
Compensation can be sought for these damages by filing a nursing home abuse lawsuit. Nursing homes and other parties can contribute negligence that allows nursing home abuse to occur which can make them liable for injuries they caused. Filing a lawsuit over these damages is not only important to attain rightful compensation, but also to help ensure that harmful negligent behavior does not occur again.
