If you made the difficult decision to place your loved one in a nursing home, you likely considered all of the factors regarding their physical and psychological health in order to make your determination. Every family wants what is best for their senior family members, and placing them in a nursing home can ensure that they receive the proper care and supervision they need 24 hours a day.
However, in some cases, families learn that the nursing home staff abused or neglected their loved ones. As shocking as this seems, nursing home abuse and neglect remains a prevalent occurrence throughout the nursing homes in the United States. If you discover that your loved one suffered injuries or harm as a resident of a nursing home, you have the right to seek justice on their behalf. Consider calling our team at Ben Crump Law, PLLC at (800) 712-9119 to help you understand how a Phoenix nursing home abuse lawyer can help you with your case.
Types of Nursing Home Abuse
Nursing home abuse is when a caregiver intentionally harms an elder or fails to meet their basic needs or to protect them from harm. There are four different types of nursing home abuse, including physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and financial abuse. However, there are also instances where the nursing home staff will intentionally neglect the daily needs of elderly residents, which can also rise to the level of abuse. Learn more about the types of abuse in nursing homes below.
For a free legal consultation with a nursing home abuse lawyer serving Phoenix, call (800) 712-9119
Physical Abuse
Physical abuse of elderly residents in nursing homes can include both direct and indirect harm resulting in injuries. Some physical abuse may be absolutely direct, such as hitting, slapping, shoving, pinching, or restraining an elderly resident.
However, in other cases, physical abuse can include the withholding of food or water, failing to help residents with daily tasks such as changing diapers or going to the restroom, or failing to assist residents with necessary medical items such as medications or catheters. As a result, residents may develop infections, physical injuries, complications related to already existing medical conditions, sepsis, or even death.
Unfortunately, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) indicates that any elderly resident suffering physical abuse has a higher risk of death than other elderly people being treated with an adequate standard of care.
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Emotional Abuse
Psychological and emotional abuse also occur in nursing homes and can result in serious and catastrophic damage to elderly residents. Some of the examples of emotional abuse suffered by elderly residents in nursing homes include threats of violence, withholding food and water for noncompliance, yelling, berating, shaming, manipulating, or intentionally causing fear in residents.
Elderly seniors in nursing homes may fear this type of repercussion and will fear asking for repositioning in their bed or wheelchair, fail to ask for food or water, or refrain from asking for assistance going to the bathroom or with daily tasks. As a result, elderly residents may develop bedsores, malnutrition, dehydration, or fall and injure themselves as they attempt to do these activities themselves. Emotional abuse tends to lead to both psychological and physical injuries and harm.
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Sexual Abuse
According to the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care, many elderly residents suffer from sexual abuse as residents of nursing homes. Elderly seniors in nursing homes lack the cognitive ability in many circumstances to understand their abuse, or even remember it after it occurs due to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.
Along with their diminished mental abilities, elderly seniors in nursing homes also lack the physical strength to fight off any sexual predator. As a result, our elderly seniors remain vulnerable targets for sexual attacks in nursing homes.
If you discover that your elderly family member suffered any kind of sexual abuse as a nursing home resident, consider calling our team at Ben Crump Law, PLLC to help you understand how a lawyer can help you file a claim against the abusive party and ensure that your senior loved one receives justice.
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Financial Abuse
Nursing home staff typically has the ability to freely walk through a resident’s room in order to assist with food, water, daily tasks, repositioning, and the distribution of medications. As a result, some employees in a nursing home may take the opportunity to steal items from a resident’s living area or steal money or credit cards from them directly.
In other more manipulative cases, nursing home staff members will manipulate elderly residents into changing their estate planning documents to name them as a beneficiary following their death.
Learn More About How a Phoenix Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Can Help Your Family
Learning that your elderly loved one suffered any kind of abuse in a nursing home is an overwhelming and devastating feeling. While no amount of compensation can truly change what occurred to your loved one, you may find that your family member now faces medical bills related to injuries and harm suffered from physical or sexual abuse or neglect.
In other cases, your elderly loved one may develop anxieties and fears needing psychological counseling. You may have an instance where your loved one actually had items stolen from them. In all of these cases, the negligent party should remain accountable for their actions.
Consider hiring a Phoenix nursing home abuse lawyer at Ben Crump Law, PLLC at (800) 712-9119 to help your family understand your legal rights and help you pursue justice on behalf of your senior family member, and receive compensation for any injuries or losses resulting from nursing home abuse or neglect.
Call or text (800) 712-9119 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
