When people decide to move a loved one into a nursing home, they do so because they cannot provide the type and quality of care their family member needs. Relatives hope and expect that their loved one will receive quality care from well-trained and attentive staff. They expect their relative will receive appropriate nutrition, necessary medications, attention, and respect.
Unfortunately, things do not always work out that way. Nursing home abuse is a common problem across the United States. It can take many forms and occur for numerous reasons, but it can leave victims and their families feeling devastated.
If your loved one suffered abuse while living in a nursing home facility, a Daytona Beach nursing home abuse lawyer could help your family seek justice. The team at Ben Crump Law, PLLC, can file a personal injury lawsuit to seek compensation for medical expenses related to care that your family member needed because of the abuse, as well as compensation for pain and suffering. Call our office today at (800) 712-9119 to speak with a member of our staff.
Types of Nursing Home Abuse
According to the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA), residents in long-term care facilities may suffer numerous forms of abuse.
Physical
Physical abuse might include pushing, hitting, slapping, hair-pulling, and withholding food, water, and medication. Human Rights Watch reported how some senior citizens in nursing homes receive antipsychotic medicines that they do not need to make them easier for staff members to manage. Failing to turn a resident who cannot move on their own is also a form of abuse since that could lead to bedsores.
Emotional
Elderly nursing home residents may experience emotional abuse. Employees may yell at residents, call them names, prevent them from socializing with friends and family members, ignore them, make threats, or intentionally humiliate them.
Financial
Staff members or guests often target nursing home residents for financial abuse. Older adults have frequently amassed large sums of money from decades of saving and investing. They may also have Alzheimer’s disease or dementia and have become isolated from family members.
These factors can make them easy prey for staff members who offer to “help” them manage their finances. Nursing home employees may use residents’ bank accounts and credit cards to purchase items for themselves or pay their bills. Staff members may even empty residents’ bank accounts. Guests could steal valuable belongings, such as jewelry, from residents and sell them.
Sexual
Sexual abuse is more widespread in nursing homes than many people realize. It could include non-consensual touching or intercourse, watching a resident as they undress, or forcing someone to watch others engaging in sexual acts.
For a free legal consultation with a nursing home abuse lawyers lawyer serving Daytona Beach, call (800) 712-9119
How and Why Nursing Home Abuse Occurs
A recent study published by the journal Health Affairs showed the prevalence of understaffing at nursing home facilities across the United States. The work is demanding and stressful, and the pay is often low. That can make it difficult for nursing homes to find qualified employees and keep them for long periods.
When facilities do not have enough workers, they might require employees to work long shifts. The stress can get to workers and can cause them to feel overwhelmed and burnt out. They may lash out at residents or take actions to make their jobs more manageable, such as giving antipsychotic drugs to residents with dementia to keep them docile.
Understaffing can allow some forms of abuse to fly under the radar. For example, if a staff member sexually abuses a resident but overwhelmed co-workers do not spot potential abuse signs—such as withdrawal, agitation, sleeplessness, and weight loss—the abuse may continue for months or even years. An abuser who can get away with mistreating one resident might feel emboldened and seek out other victims.
Staff members are not the only people who abuse nursing home residents. They may suffer at the hands of fellow residents or visitors, such as family members and other residents’ friends. They also could experience abuse from people who come to the facility in the course of their employment, including maintenance and delivery workers. In understaffed facilities, employees may be unaware of the abuse occurring on their watch.
If a nursing home does not have enough qualified employees, managers may not fulfill their obligations when it comes to hiring. They may fail to perform adequate background checks to identify people with a history of abuse, or they may overlook past allegations of abuse and hire individuals simply to have enough people on staff. Managers may also fail to train employees appropriately on nursing home procedures, guidelines, and laws related to caring for vulnerable populations, and when and how to report suspected abuse.
Daytona Beach Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers Lawyer Near Me (800) 712-9119
How a Daytona Beach Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Could Help
Florida Statutes § 429.28 lays out the rights of nursing home residents, including the right to “[l]ive in a safe and decent living environment, free from abuse and neglect.” If a facility did not meet those standards, and your loved one suffered abuse while living in a nursing home, a Daytona Beach nursing home abuse lawyer could file a personal injury lawsuit to seek justice.
Ben Crump Law, PLLC, has represented clients nationwide who suffered harm because of the actions or negligence of others. We could recover a financial award to compensate you or your loved one for medical costs, moving expenses to a new facility, and pain and suffering related to the nursing home abuse. Call us today to get started.
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Contact an Attorney Today
According to Florida Statutes § 429.296, nursing home abuse victims have two years to file a lawsuit. The sooner you contact a Daytona Beach nursing home abuse lawyer, the sooner the process of seeking justice and compensation can begin.
Victims of nursing home abuse and their families sometimes do not take legal action against abusers because they think they cannot afford to hire an attorney. You should not let concerns about legal fees keep you from seeking justice. Ben Crump Law, PLLC, follows a contingency model. We do not charge personal injury clients any upfront fees. We only get paid if we recover a financial award on behalf of a client.
Call our office today at (800) 712-9119 to discuss your case with a staff member and learn more about your legal rights and what we can do to help you uphold them.
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