Nursing Home Neglect and Abuse

 
All of us will eventually face the hard and wrenching decision of how to care for our aging loved ones. You may have arranged to care for them yourself, at home, among family and familiar surroundings. But the best laid plans are sometimes confounded by medical circumstances that would legally prohibit you from home care, no matter how good your intentions. For instance, certain laws prohibit the dispensing of prescriptions without a license, and the elderly may develop other medical problems that are best treated in a licensed health care facility.

Once you made the difficult decision that your loved one needed long-term care and supervision, you may have spent significant time and effort to choose the best facility.  But have you come to regret your choice?

Nursing home neglect and abuse can take many forms, including—

• Dirty or inadequate clothing
• Inadequate medical care for both physical and mental health needs
• Falls while being transported or while ambulating with or without assistance
• Health and safety hazards
• Abuse from other residents
• Malnutrition and dehydration
• Verbal, sexual, physical, and mental abuse
• Corporal punishment
• Solitary confinement

Your loved one deserves professional, adequate, and respectful treatment.  If you suspect your loved one is being abused or neglected, you need to take action.

Nursing home litigation involves complaints of abuse and neglect suffered by the elderly while they are residents in a nursing home. In the past, such cases were considered rare, but evidence of the incidence of neglect and the public's awareness has risen dramatically in the last ten years. In March of 1999, the General Accounting Office of the U.S. Government released a study showing that more than 25% of nursing home residents are either harmed, or put at risk of serious injury or death as the result of poor quality and safety practices, or a failure to adhere to regulatory standards.

Nursing home staff are generally underpaid. The persons responsible for carrying out the directives of physicians and RNs are usually poorly trained. These persons are often responsible for cleaning, bathing, turning, feeding, and answering the call buttons of persons confined to a nursing home. And, not being able to care for themselves, sometimes not being able to roll over, or even speak, the nursing home residents are often at their mercy.  Because of the staggering evidence of abuse at nursing homes, you must take action yourself and become ever vigilant for signs of neglect of your loved ones.

Some things to look for are:

1. Are the medications being administered appropriately?

This includes pain medication. Is it being given as it should? It is abuse not to provide pain medication for a person who is in pain especially when they cannot themselves demand it.

2. Is your loved–one receiving appropriate nutrition?

Evidence of a lack of nutrition is weight loss or dehydration, and oftentimes the best evidence of a lack of nutrition is to compare the patient's weight on admission to what their weight is now. Remember that many nursing home residents must be fed slowly to allow them to finish their meals and receive the appropriate nutrition. Understaffing often leads to a rushed and careless approach to feeding. If a patient eats less than 75% of their food, regulations require that the doctor be notified. Has this been done? If not, why not? If the doctor has been notified, what steps is he or she taking to ensure proper nutrition?

Effects of protracted malnutrition (starvation) are:

• Dehydration
• Fatigue
• Frequent urination
• Hypothermia
• Retardation
• Reduced resistance to infection

If your family member or loved one exhibits any of these signs or symptoms?  You need answers.

3. "Bed Sores" – Pressure or Decubitus Ulcers

Even the healthiest of individuals, if confined to a bed for more than a week, is at great risk for developing bed sores, also called pressure ulcers. For those elderly and disabled patients who are unable to turn themselves in bed, the risks for developing these sores increases dramatically. In skilled nursing facilities, an estimated 23% of patients suffer pressure sores. (National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel, "Pressure Ulcer Research: Etiology, Assessment and Earl Intervention"). In high–risk categories, including quadriplegics, the numbers increase to 60%. (National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel, "Statement on Pressure Ulcer Prevention 1992"). Because most pressure ulcers are preventable, these cases are often ripe for litigation. THE NURSING HOME IS BEING PAID TO ENSURE THAT THE PATIENT IS ADEQUATELY TURNED IN AN EFFORT TO PREVENT BED SORES.

Find out whether or not the physician is being notified appropriately. Once an ulcer occurs and progresses from Stage I through Stage III and IV, every day and shift where there is a failure to notify the physician of the existence of, or changes in, a pressure sore should be documented and detailed. The general rule is that the physician should be notified not only of the development of a pressure sore, but of any change in the condition of the sore.

4. Has your loved one fallen or been found on the floor?

Your loved one may need assistance in moving about, such as in and out of a bed or chair, on and off an exam table, into and out of a wheelchair, and to use the lavatory.  Nursing home staff must provide effective assistance to ensure that your loved one does not fall.  However staff that is ineffective or unresponsive when your loved one needs assistance is a form of neglect.  If your loved one fell while being transported or was injured while ambulating either with or without assistance, let an NRS attorney evaluate your case.

The National Center on Elder Abuse in the United States regularly conducts surveys and collects data on nursing home resident abuses. An average of 30% of all nursing homes in America are guilty of some form of abuse, and the numbers are increasing. Such abuses are on the rise due to recruitment of inexperienced or unable nurses or medical staff.

If you or a loved one has become a victim of nursing home abuse, contact a lawyer immediately at NRS to explore filing a claim. NRS highly skilled and experienced lawyers are well versed in all types of nursing home abuses. They can pursue compensation for the suffering and pain that a resident experienced in a nursing home. Contact an NRS lawyer today for a free case evaluation.

No Reason to Settle for less

It's not just our initials, it's what we stand for: NRS.  For a free consultation with an NRS lawyer about your medical malpractice or nursing home neglect matter, call toll-free 1.855.GOT.HURT (1.855.468.4878).  We help clients throughout the state of Ohio including the counties of—