What Should I Do If I am Worried About Nursing Home Abuse?

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What Should I Do If I am Worried About Nursing Home Abuse?

If you are concerned about a loved one suffering from nursing home abuse, you should contact a reputable nursing home abuse lawyer as soon as you can. Even though great strides have been made in medicine and our ability to keep people healthier and alive for longer than we have been able to do in previous decades, more and more cases of nursing home abuse are coming to light at an alarming rate.

Families face tough decisions when their parents, grandparents and other aging relatives are no longer able to take care of themselves in the manner that they should be taken care of. Most people, regardless of their age, are resistant to leaving the comfort of their homes that are filled with their possessions and memories. Even when an individual knows that they are no longer capable of taking care of themselves and their home the way they are used to, they seldom embrace the idea of going to live in a room in a facility where others will take care of them and their responsibilities. Coming to a decision to put a loved one in a nursing home often causes tension and stress amongst family members who have different ideas of how to best care for their aging loved one.

When the decision has finally been made, and their loved one is finally moved in and settled in their new home, most people think that their worries and concerns are over. An unfortunate reality is that for some elder people and their families, bigger and more serious concerns are on the horizon. It is a horrible thing to think that someone you love who is not as cognizant as they used to be may be suffering from abuse at the hands of his or her paid caretakers.

Skilled nursing facilities are established with the purpose of providing care for patients who are unable to complete normal daily tasks without assistance. The majority of skilled nursing facilities cater to elderly patients but there are many that cater to younger patients who are physically and or mentally compromised, whose families are unable to provide them with the care that they need.

The following are some of the more common types of skilled nursing facility abuses:

• Physical Abuse: Whether it is from an actual and deliberate physical attack by a caretaker on their patient, or because of careless and rough “care” of a patient, a patient in a nursing home should never have bruises, cuts, bloody clothes, broken bones, etc.
• Sexual Abuse: The range of sexual abuse in nursing homes is wide but always harmful to patients who endure it. This can come in the form of rape, improper touching while changing clothing or bathing, and inappropriate gestures and jokes.
• Verbal Abuse: Yelling at a patient, talking down to them, threatening a patient, and giving verbal instructions to perform demeaning tasks or tasks that the patient is incapable of completing, are all forms of verbal abuse that a patient in a nursing home should not ever be subjected to.
• Neglect: Patients in nursing homes should be monitored on a regular basis, at least several times a day. They should consistently be provided with meals, medication, clean clothes, help with bathing in clean bathing facilities, and clean bedding. Even though bedsores are common amongst bedridden patients, there are ways to prevent them and a nursing home patient should not suffer from them.

If you are concerned about a loved one suffering from nursing home abuse, contact Cohen & Cohen to get the information you need to help you make informed decisions about how to best protect your loved on.