Families trust dedicated nursing facilities to care for their loved ones when they can’t. Elderly relatives might need temporary rehabilitation after suffering a broken hip or long-term care for symptoms related to Alzheimer’s. Nursing homes often cost seniors thousands of dollars each month, yet the quality of care they receive depends on the availability of space in nearby facilities.
Few families have the resources to afford private 24/7 care or can afford the cost of moving a loved one to a new facility when signs of abuse and neglect arise. It may seem hopeless, but an elder abuse lawyer can help without any upfront costs. Securing a local nursing home abuse attorney’s services is the first thing you should do when you spot common signs of nursing home neglect and wish to protect your loved one from future harm.
Defining Elder Abuse in the United States
Abuse can manifest in many forms at a nursing home or extended care facility, including:
- Emotional and psychological – This type of abuse often involves caregivers belittling, yelling, or cursing at patients. It also includes lying to patients about their condition and preventing them from seeing friends and relatives.
- Physical – Such abuse includes slapping, pushing, hitting, and rough handling of a patient. It generally is any kind of treatment that causes bodily harm.
- Sexual – Sexual abuse in a nursing home includes direct physical trauma, such as molestation, groping, and rape, as well as indirect trauma, such as indecent exposure and harassment.
- Abandonment and neglect – Abandonment and neglect take place when the staff refuses to provide seniors with proper care, respond to their needs, take them to the bathroom on time, and provide them with prescribed medication.
- Medical malpractice – Malpractice occurs when licensed medical professionals do not treat a patient based on generally accepted standards of care or cause actual harm.
- Financial fraud – Caregivers may attempt to gain access to a patient’s bank account, or nursing facilities may overcharge patients and insurance providers for services they do not sufficiently provide
Advocates often discover multiple forms of abuse when investigating nursing home neglect claims. A single instance of bruise could uncover months of sexual abuse, illegal billing practices, and malnutrition. Further, nursing staff may cover up these abuses by overprescribing pain medication or otherwise sedating patients. A nursing home worker who abuses one vulnerable adult will often have abused other patients as well. By reporting suspected abuse, you might lead investigators to discover multiple cases of elder abuse to a single facility or healthcare worker.
Practical Steps to Take If You Suspect Elder Abuse
Family members can feel very concerned after receiving a phone call from a loved one complaining of ill-treatment or noticing potential elder abuse signs, but be unsure if they should bring these concerns to law enforcement. Trust your instincts.
If you experienced unfriendliness from the staff, observed unsanitary conditions, or sensed a change in the patient’s personality, consider taking the following actions:
- Medical malpractice. If a patient’s medical condition worsens, request a copy of the patient’s medical records, review their chart, or ask an independent geriatrician to examine your loved one. While waiting for an objective examination, consider speaking with a medical malpractice attorney. Most medical malpractice lawyers have experience in nursing home abuse and negligent cases, so there may be a legal advocate in your area who has sued or investigated the same nursing facility.
- Negligent supervision and care. Bedsores, delirium, moaning, dehydration, and weight loss might indicate a lack of sufficient care. If your loved one suddenly breaks a hip, but the nursing home staff have a questionable or vague explanation for the injury, you might have a claim for general medical neglect, premises liability, or negligent supervision.
- Physical, sexual, or psychological abuse. Listen to loved ones if they report being yelled at or touched inappropriately, and take notice if they become withdrawn or delirious. Look for bruises, scratches, bedwetting, or bleeding and ask them directly about their treatment. If you see any signs of abuse, contact your local branch of adult protective services or investigators. You might also confidentially speak with a legal advocate about anonymously requesting an abuse investigation.
In either case, it rarely helps to bring potential abuse to the attention of nursing home staff. In such instances, it is not uncommon for the staff to avoid liability by fabricating an explanation of your loved one’s ill health, promise actions they never take, or alter medical records. You should immediately involve independent third-parties, such as a local nursing home attorney and adult protective services, if you suspect nursing home abuse and neglect.
15 Signs of Abuse, Neglect, or Lack of Care at Nursing Homes
A primary indicator of abuse and neglect is when the nursing home staff fail to promptly inform family members about instances of wandering, aggression, depression, or physical trauma.
Look for the following indicators of physical, sexual, medical, or emotional abuse at nursing homes and consider whether administrators informed you of a previous incident:
- Bedsores (also known as pressure ulcers)
- Malnutrition and dehydration
- A worsening emotional or medical state
- Withdrawal, depression, and extreme anger
- Fractures, especially to hips, ribs, and wrists
- Soiled bedding and clothing, or other unsanitary conditions
- Fear of being touched
- Rocking back and forth while making noises
- Bruises, cuts, scrapes, and welts
- Seemingly heavy medication or sedation
- Staff refusing to allow you to see or speak with the patient
- Frequent illnesses and infections
- Falls and instances of wandering
- Bruising around the breasts or genitals
- Vaginal bleeding
Patients requiring in-patient nursing care typically suffer from severe physical or mental conditions. Abusive staff members often attribute evidence of neglect to dementia, infections, or prescription side effects. Staff members might also blame your loved one by claiming they wouldn’t eat, drink, or cooperate with medical personnel.
Rehabilitation, assisted living, and nursing home facilities charge thousands of dollars each month to provide professional and essential care to vulnerable adults. Without question, these services include ensuring patients receive proper nutrition, medical care, and emotional support. Staff members must also take steps to prevent your loved one from suffering an injury and protecting them from abuse. If you notice any of the above conditions, they could indicate abuse, neglect, medical malpractice, or general negligence. Consider speaking with a local attorney about any suspected abuse, neglect, or harm caused or allowed by a nursing home.
Connecting With Advocates to Report Elder Abuse and Nursing Home Neglect
Close friends and family members are a patient’s strongest advocates. Advocacy means standing up and identifying, investigating, preventing, and seeking justice for elder abuse. If you believe a loved one is suffering from nursing home abuse and neglect, you have a few options to consider.
Contact a Local or National Non-Profit Organization
Public agencies and non-profit organizations, such as the National Center on Elder Abuse and National Adult Protective Services Association, provide advocacy and information services. They may be able to help you identify common signs of abuse, but their advocates do not have any legal authority. Non-attorney advocates often refer family members to local law enforcement or government social service agencies.
File a Police Report
If a loved one reports physical or sexual abuse, consider filing a police report and contacting an elder abuse advocate. Take your loved one seriously. Certain nursing facilities and workers have a history of abusing and neglecting the elderly, so local detectives might have evidence from other cases corroborating your family member’s story. However, the investigation process often takes time and might not result in immediate protection for your loved one. You should seek additional legal protection in court after reporting your suspicions to the police.
Report Potential Abuse to Your Local Branch of Adult Protective Services
Social service workers handle most nursing home abuse and neglect cases. Your local branch of adult protective services might have previous experience investigating your loved one’s facility. Please note though that they might not take immediate action. Due to high caseload, social service agencies can sometimes only respond to the most heinous and obvious physical and sexual abuse cases. They may also decline to take meaningful action in other cases due to a lack of investigative resources.
Retaining Private Nursing Home Abuse Counsel
Nursing home administrators, law enforcement officers, and social service workers might ignore, excuse, or delay investigating elder abuse and medical malpractice claims. You should not usually wait for public officials to take action.
Local personal injury attorneys commonly handle nursing home abuse and neglect cases, including medical malpractice and wrongful death litigation. Consider reporting abuse allegations to social service workers or law enforcement officials while also scheduling a confidential nursing home abuse consultation with a local plaintiff’s lawyer. Nursing home abuse cases typically fall under the legal umbrella of personal injury litigation. Look for local injury, accident, and medical negligence attorneys offering free consultations.
Legal Remedies and Damages Available for Patients Neglected at Nursing Homes
From inflicting emotional distress to sexual battery, every type of abuse has a corresponding civil cause of action called a tort. Tort law often allows guardians, estate administrators, or injured patients to bring legal action for financial damages based on abuse and neglect.
Such abuse and neglect include:
- Negligence – Failing to supervise patients, provide proper care, perform background checks on employees, and make the premises safe
- Medical malpractice – Failing to provide accepted and professional medical services or the recklessly harming of patients by licensed doctors or nurses
- Battery – Intentionally causing a physical injury to the patient or engaging in unlawful sexual touching, as well as indirect actions such as administering too much medication or unlawfully restraining patents
- Wrongful death – Causing or failing to treat an injury or illness that ultimately results in your loved one’s death
- Intentional infliction of emotional distress – Yelling at patients and otherwise causing psychological trauma that results in physical or emotional damage or condition, such as refusing to eat or socialize
- Fraud – Filing false insurance claims or lying to patients about bills and medical costs to obtain access to their bank accounts
Nursing home abuse attorneys can bring civil claims against a negligent nursing home, caregiver, or medical provider. Litigation could result in reimbursement for past and future out-of-pocket expenses, such as additional medical bills, compensation for the patient’s pain, suffering, and emotional anguish, and punitive damages to punish abusers and their grossly negligent nursing facilities.
Protecting the Elderly From Sexual Assault, Harassment, and Physical Abuse at Nursing Facilities
Simply filing litigation in your local civil court could trigger more immediate legal protections for an abused loved one. A private nursing home abuse lawyer might help victims of elder abuse and their families instigate certain guardianship proceedings, apply for a civil order of protection, or demand nursing homes preserve and turn over all medical records and evidence. Further, a lawyer could file a claim with a health or medical malpractice provider.
Medicare, Medicaid, and private health insurance companies may start an investigation into illegal billing and record-keeping practices to recover for overbilling. A malpractice insurer might internally investigate claims to minimize their potential liability. Between pending litigation, a law enforcement investigation, and pressure from insurers, nursing homes might take more immediate action to care for your loved one and move them to a safer facility. A legal advocate can file these claims if you suspect a nursing home or caregiver of elder abuse.
Cost of Consulting a Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Attorney
Long-term care often costs patients and their families thousands of dollars and drains personal resources. Thankfully, most nursing home abuse attorneys offer free consultations and do not charge by the hour. They could represent you and your loved one on a contingency fee basis, such as for a portion of any eventual financial recovery. Nursing home abuse lawyers only get paid a percentage of a nursing home abuse settlement or jury verdict, plus reimbursement for pre-paid litigation expenses and expert costs.
If you’re worried about nursing home abuse and neglect, consider scheduling a free and confidential consultation with a private legal advocate.
