Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers Who Fight for the Elderly and Their Families

What Compensation Is My Loved One Entitled To Receive?

Victims of nursing home abuse are protected by nursing home abuse law and are entitled to compensation.

This compensation may cover:

• Medical Bills: If your loved one has unexplained injuries, they should be entitled to compensation for medical expenses like medications, emergency visits, hospitalization, surgeries, therapy, specialist visits, and transportation to and from appointments.
• Punitive Damages: Punitive damages are meant to punish the nursing home employee or another abuser for their harmful acts or behavior. They are also meant to discourage others from behaving similarly.
• Non-Economic Losses: Some abuse in nursing homes may entitle your loved one to compensation for pain and suffering. These “quality of life” losses impact their ability to enjoy past hobbies or interests.

Signs and Types of Abuse In Nursing Homes

Nursing homes and assisted living facilities are busy places. Staff members, including medical professionals, face many challenges in caring for elderly residents. Most of them do their best to provide quality care. But sometimes mistakes are made, or caregivers act with neglect out of their own frustrations. 

Nursing home abuse does occur all too often and takes many different forms. Each victim of abuse may have completely different experiences.

Here are a few common signs of nursing home abuse seen by our nursing home abuse law firm:

• Emotional Abuse
• Physical Abuse
• Verbal Abuse 
• Sexual Abuse 
• Financial Abuse 
• Medical Malpractice 

No matter what form of nursing home abuse you or your loved one has experienced, there is never a good reason for nursing home staff to mistreat a resident. 

Caregivers might hide the abusive actions, but family members can watch for signs of any type of elder abuse and nursing home neglect or mistreatment, including: 

• Bedsores: Also referred to as pressure sores, pressure ulcers, and decubitus ulcers, bedsores result from patients being left in one position for extended periods. This results in pain, extended medical care, infection, or death. Federal Regulations impose responsibilities on nursing homes to prevent unavoidable bed sores on elderly people.
• Falls: Nursing home falls may result in broken bones, subdural hematoma, and life-threatening injuries requiring extensive medical treatment. Nursing homes have a duty to balance each patient’s rights to be free even if they are at risk for a fall, and then implement safeguards to prevent falls. If your loved one has been injured in a fall, you may have grounds for a nursing home abuse lawsuit.
• Fractures: Broken bones and fractures in elderly people are painful and significantly impact their quality of life. Unfortunately, many cases of dropped patients have resulted in bone and hip fractures and other serious personal injuries. If this has happened to your loved one, you should speak to experienced personal injury lawyers who can explain your legal rights.
• Choking: Many elderly patients have difficulty swallowing, known as dysphagia, so choking is common. Nursing homes should assess patients for swallowing to prevent choking accidents and provide proper care and supervision at mealtimes. Nursing home lawsuits can compensate victims if their loved one seems to choke regularly.

The above conditions or injuries are considered abusive and are all preventable. 

The conditions below indicate poor care or signs of neglect.

• Dehydration: Being dehydrated is a sure sign of inadequate care. Not getting enough water is a leading cause of elder neglect. Every nursing home resident should receive the fluids needed to maintain their physical well-being. The responsible parties in the nursing facility should monitor the resident’s fluid intake and output to avoid dehydration.
• Malnutrition: This occurs when nursing home employees fail to address the basic needs of their elderly citizens. Facilities must conduct regular assessments, including weigh-ins, to avoid malnutrition. An experienced lawyer will know this and check to be sure it’s being done.
• Elopement: Elopement, or wandering, is when a patient leaves the facility’s safety without the staff’s knowledge. Most elopement cases involve dementia or Alzheimer’s patients not getting the required level of care.
• Sexual Assault: There is very little known about sexual abuse in long-term care facilities for older adults. This is because most sexual assault cases involving nursing home patients go unreported. However, these cases typically involve disabled patients who cannot verbally communicate these forms of nursing home abuse. Signs of sexual abuse include visual distress, withdrawal, sexually transmitted disease, and bloody or torn clothing. An experienced attorney will look for all of these signs.
• Medication Errors: These errors happen when patients receive the wrong dose or wrong medication, which can be fatal. This is a form of medical negligence, and nursing homes can be held accountable for issues arising from medication errors.
• Unexpected Death: If your loved one experienced an untimely death, you might wish to investigate the circumstances with experienced nursing home lawyers. If the death is causally related to negligent medical care or nursing home care, you may have grounds to file a wrongful death claim.
• Other Types of Abuse: Many other types of abuse involve physical abuse and psychological abuse by nursing home staff. Unfortunately, countless situations involve emotional abuse, sexual abuse, mental abuse, financial abuse, or verbal abuse due to negligent nursing, even in a skilled nursing facility. Unfortunately, this abuse is rarely reported to authorities, so it’s essential to look out for signs of abuse.