What Can a Nursing Home Abuse Attorney Do For You?

A skilled nursing home abuse attorney understands the unique positions of those under a nursing home’s care, as well as the laws and regulations nursing homes must abide by. When a nursing home is at fault for the neglect or abuse or your loved one, consulting with a negligent nursing home attorney can help provide you with a way forward so you can focus on helping your loved one recover.

Negligent Nursing Home?

After carefully researching a facility and entrusting them with the care of your loved one, you expect the best. All too often, however, vulnerable residents of nursing homes are abused or neglected by the very people who are supposed to offer care and support. How can this happen?

Americans are living longer and more are requiring the aid of nursing homes to live safe, fulfilling lives. Nursing home residents are able to receive medical care and assistance they are not able to receive at home. Many are dependent on that care and require ongoing assistance throughout the day to be comfortable. Nursing homes provide on-staff nurses and help with personal care tasks such as bathing, brushing teeth, getting dressed, and combing hair. Many of the residents of nursing homes are vulnerable because of their medical needs or their inability to live on their own. Unfortunately, some caregivers prey on that vulnerability and place our loved ones at risk.

Older Americans and those with disabilities are particularly at risk for neglect and abuse. For many, abuse connotes physical or bodily harm. Nursing home neglect and abuse aren’t just physical. Residents may be subjected to emotional, sexual, or financial abuse that takes advantage of their inability to defend themselves. How can you protect your loved one?

Florida has a large population of vibrant citizens over 65 which continues to grow. Most live on their own, however, the number of residents in nursing homes is growing as the population ages. Currently, Florida is home to 683 licensed nursing homes that provide services for individuals who can no longer care for themselves. While the state does its best to regulate nursing homes and ensure they are meeting the needs of their residents, some caregivers continue to take advantage of their positions.

Visiting relatives in a nursing home is the best way to ensure they are acclimated to their environment and that they are being treated well. Your loved one should have access to clean living spaces, clean clothes, healthy meals, activities, medication, and handicap facilities. They should be bathed and fed if they are unable to take care of these needs themselves and they should be protected from other residents if necessary. If any of these are lacking or if your loved one’s affect has changed, it’s important to look for other signs of abuse or neglect. Failure to meet these basic needs could indicate your loved one is living in a negligent nursing home.

Signs of Nursing Home Neglect

Because of staffing difficulties, some nursing homes may neglect the needs of their residents. Because they are often tasked with personal care such as bathing and feeding residents, this can be especially dangerous. Signs of nursing home neglect include:

• Worsening health despite care
• Soiled clothes or bedclothes
• Poor oral hygiene
• Unbrushed hair and untrimmed nails
• Malnutrition or dehydration
• Lack of exercise
• Bedsores

When you’ve entrusted a nursing home with the care of your loved one, there is no excuse for neglect. Unfortunately, physical neglect is the most common type of elder abuse. Communicating with caregivers and visiting often can help ensure your loved one receives the care they deserve. If, however, you suspect your loved one is suffering from nursing home neglect, a nursing home abuse attorney can help you investigate.

Physical Signs of Abuse

One of the most common signs of neglect or abuse is dehydration. This is especially dangerous in Florida where warm temperatures are the norm. Other physical signs of abuse or neglect include:

• Malnutrition
• Paleness or sunken eyes
• Poor hygiene
• Unexplained cuts, puncture wounds, and burns
• Bruises, welts, or untreated bed sores
• Dislocated limbs or broken bones

Physical signs of abuse may indicate abuse or neglect from a caretaker or another resident. Consulting with a nursing home abuse attorney can help you determine whether the nursing home was negligent in their care of your loved one and provide you with legal options for moving forward.

Behavioral Signs of Nursing Home Abuse

Not all abuse has physical symptoms. Emotional, verbal, or sexual abuse may show itself in these behavioral changes:

• Loss of appetite
• New fears and anxieties
• Tendency to be withdrawn or isolated
• Inappropriate agitation or anger
• More confusion or disorientation
• Depression
• Non-responsiveness

Behavioral signs of abuse may point to negligence, verbal abuse, or sexual abuse. When faced with these signs, it’s important to seek more information and assistance from a nursing home abuse attorney. Many times, victims of abuse feel ashamed, even though the abuse is not their fault. This can make it more difficult to discover abuse.

What is Financial Abuse?

In addition to physical and emotional abuse, some seniors are susceptible to financial abuse in nursing homes. Financial abuse of the elderly is the exploitation of a senior’s financial resources such as cash, property, or assets. An abuser may forge signatures on checks, take money, convince them to change a power of attorney or will, or even steal a resident’s possessions.

Signs of financial abuse include changes in how a loved one handles money, increased bills, declining bank balances, and missing possessions. If your loved one is frequently missing money, having trouble pay for expenses they previously paid, or is missing cherished items, someone may be taking advantage of them.

Report Nursing Home Abuse

Not only is it imperative to remove your loved one from a negligent nursing home, but it is also very important to report elder abuse in Florida so any guilty parties can be brought to justice. A negligent nursing home attorney can help you deal with the arbitration clauses many nursing homes utilize or help you seek compensation for your loved one’s pain and suffering.

Get a Free Case Evaluation

If you suspect that a family member may have suffered abuse while a resident at a nursing home send us a case evaluation form and one of our experienced trial attorneys will contact you to discuss your situation. There is no cost to you whatsoever for this free evaluation.

• 

  Nursing Home Abuse

  Unfortunately, nursing home abuse and assisted living facility abuse happens to residents far too often in Florida. According to the U.S. Census Bureau 19% of Florida’s population is over the age of 65.

• 

  Nursing Home Statute of Limitations

  The relatively short period of time that is provided to an injured person or their family in order to bring an action against the responsible party highlights the importance of contacting an attorney immediately after you experience or discovery that abuse has occurred.

• 

  Nursing Home Residents Bill of Rights

  Florida Law provides that residents of nursing homes have specific legal rights that must be provided by the facility and its care takers.

• 

  Assisted Living Facility Abuse

  Learn more about Assisted Living Facility Abuse

If you need help dealing with a negligent nursing home, contact a Nursing Home Abuse Attorney now!