Your Loved One Has Been Hurt in a Nursing Home... Now What?
by Chandler Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers - Mark Breyer
When you decide to put your loved one in a nursing home it is a very difficult and emotional decision. If you then discover that your loved one has been injured while staying at the nursing home or worse, fatally injured, it bring a whole host of emotions into play that one never thought would be there. When the nursing home betrays your trust of protecting and guarding your loved one, it is devastating. Unfortunately, many nursing homes are now owned by companies that are not for profit. When companies are not for profit many times it requires that they have less staff on the clock, less trained staff, and be more focused on increasing profits.
Nursing home abuse statistics
Nursing homes are a place for elderly who are either disabled or who need care. There are more than 16,000 nursing homes in America. More than 1.6 million elderly or disabled individuals are living in nursing homes through out the United States. Nursing homes vary in terms of how many staff members, what type of facility, and how many residents are in each nursing home. Each nursing home will have its own set of procedures and policies. If your loved one has been injured in a nursing home, do not think you are the only family member who has gone through something like this. is a national phenomenon.
There have been more than 5,000 nursing homes that have been cited in the last two years for abusing a resident. That calculates into 30% of nursing homes in the United States causing bodily harm or death to its residents. This does not even consider all of the nursing home abuse that is not reported each year. Many families, and rightfully so, do not know if they want to make a nursing home negligence claim.
Elderly people are being hurt more and more ... what can you do?
After dealing with the emotional impact of a loved one being hurt while in the care of a nursing home, it is up to you to make the decision whether or not you want to contact experienced Chandler nursing home abuse lawyers to help you recover damages from the people who hurt your loved one. Elder care is something that is growing each year as our population gets older and older. Currently, there are almost 240,000 cases that have been documented where our elderly population is being injured by the very people that are supposed to be caring for them each day. Nursing home neglect is where the residents of the nursing home are not being treated properly. This improper care leads to the residents being injured or hurt.
Loved ones spend time deliberating where to place their elder family and lots of money on these nursing home facilities only to find out that their loved ones are not being taken cared of properly and are being hurt, injured, and sometimes sustaining fatal injuries. This is absolutely devastating to family members. If you want to make sure that others do not get injured by the same facilities, you should strongly consider making a nursing home negligence claim against the nursing home for your loved one.
What types of nursing home negligence cases are there to be made?
Nursing home negligence can cause injury in a variety of ways. Most injury or fatal injuries caused to elderly individuals fall under two categories, which are neglect and abuse. Examples of these types of nursing home negligence would include:
- bed sores
- poor hygiene
- fractured bones
- slip and falls because of inadequate supervision
- no bed rails
- lack of adequate alarm equipment in the room
- pressure sores
- emotional abuse
- sexual assault
- physical abuse and assault
- improper dosage of medication
- stealing of property
- forgery or fraud
- malnutrition due to lack of water or food
- injuries that do not make sense
- physical restraints
- chemical restraints
Who can make a claim for nursing home abuse?
A family member of the injured resident at the nursing home can make a claim against the nursing home. Surprisingly, community members can also bring a complaint action against the nursing home facility. It is best if all family members are on board to bring the complaint but it is not necessary.
How do you know if your loved one is being abused?
Most families know instinctively if their loved one is not being treated appropriately. Some times family members will not want to believe that the nursing home abused their loved one. What happens though is that the injured resident will either speak up or the family member will decide to take action. Taking action against a nursing home when you suspect or know that your loved one is being abused or neglected is important not just for your loved one, but also so that other residents can be free of pain and injury. Also, many times the federal government will become involved and the nursing home will have to answer questions and face multiple citations. Many times it may just be one staff member who is neglecting the residents.
Contact an experienced nursing home abuse lawyer.
If your loved one has shown any of the above physical abuse or neglect signs above, it is best to call an experienced Chandler injury lawyer as soon as possible. The Husband and Wife Law Team understands the difficulties and emotions in bringing such a claim. We can answer all your questions and make you feel comfortable about bringing your claim for injury to your loved one. Contact us today.
We offer free consultations and will advance all costs in pursuing your nursing home neglect case. We will not charge a fee unless we win your nursing home case. We understand the complexities of working with family members and the decisions to be made when bringing a nursing home neglect case. Call us for your free consultation now.
