Every day, people are faced with the question put to a loved one in a nursing home. Although people do this with love in their hearts and best intentions, their intentions are often dotted with reports of nursing home abuse.
Of course, nobody wants to see their loved one is damaged, even when evidence or allegations of abuse are present, family members often feel like they were wrong. The fact is, the only people providing care and conducting abuse is to blame.
Since many nursing home patients in poor health, and many are limited in their ability to speak, it can be somewhat difficult to determine whether abuse is taking place. The best way to determine this is to carefully monitor your loved one and look for the key warning signs.
the most common types of abuse include the following:
• General Assault
• General Batteries
• Rape
• Sexual abuse
• Sexual battery
• physical restraint on an unreasonable degree
• deprivation of food or water for long periods
• Chemical restraint for the use of medications not prescribed by doctors for patient health
• Overmedication
• Under-medication
• injuries that can not be explained
• cuts, scrapes, bruises, welts, or open wounds
• Reports of abuse
• Evidence of Pushing, beating, slapping, or shaking
• Maintenance of violent patients in my room
If you suspect abuse, it is important that you are looking for the following characters:
• Medical Neglect - lack of medical care, or lack of medication daily.
• Physical neglect - lack of general care, or lack of basic daily needs.
• failure to provide adequate nutrition and hydration
• Failure to assist with general grooming or personal hygiene
• Infections
• unsanitary conditions
• lack of cleanliness
• failure to provide protection of public safety or health hazards
In addition to physical abuse and neglect, it is also important to look for signs of verbal and / or emotional abuse. This type of patient abuse degrades and destroys their self-esteem. Warning signs for this type of abuse include:
• the patient seems to be very upset or agitated
• The patient does not want to talk, and it seems to pull
• the patient exhibited abnormal behavior such as biting, rocking, or mumble
• the patient wants to be left alone all the time
• Inability to ignore or insults, threats, humiliating or by friends and family
There are other warning signs of abuse or neglect to mention when visiting patients in a nursing home. These are:
• injuries that require hospitalization or emergency medical care
• broken bones that can not be fully explained
• Unexplained medicating or sedating
• Unexplained or unexpected death
• Recurrent disease is not reported to primary care physicians
• Patients injuring other patients
• Episodes of wandering, where staff do not notice the missing patient for a long time
It is important to understand that neglect and abuse must be stopped, and there are many state and federal laws in place that are designed to protect the rights of nursing home patients. Patients also have different security, privacy and other civil rights should never be compromised.
If you think your loved one can be a victim of nursing home abuse or neglect, there are steps you can take to verify your concerns, and take action if necessary.
First, try to visit as often as possible, and change your schedule so that staff do not know when you're expecting. Try to visit both day and night, weekends and holidays, to assess the care provided to different shifts.
Next, talk to the nurses and aids about their concerns and judge their reactions. If you do not feel like you've heard, or if your fears are somewhat confirmed, says the director of nursing, personnel, social worker, a nursing home administrator. If you then still do not have the answers you need, or feel as if your not addressed the concerns, move on to talk with your doctor. Keep talking until someone listens.
Finally, call your state agency that oversees nursing home care. Usually, the Department of Health and Human Services will be guiding the agent in charge of law enforcement and nursing home regulations. The agency will also conduct an annual review of each nursing home in the country and must investigate each complaint filed. You can also contact these agencies before placing a loved one in a nursing home in order to check their competence and complaint history.
Each time someone believes is abused or neglected while in a nursing home, you should take action and file a lawsuit. If your claim is substantiated, the agency that oversees nursing home will take swift action in the form of citations, fines, and will require immediate action to remedy the situation and ensure it does not happen again.
by taking these steps, you can continue the court proceedings. One course of action is to file a complaint against a nursing home with a court in your jurisdiction. Each state has different criteria for the file, as well as the various statute of limitations, so it is best to consult with counsel to confirm this information. attorney who specializes in this area will also be able to provide you with much guidance on the legal process, and the best way to continue to help your loved one.
You should always take quick action when filing a complaint of abuse nursing home. An attorney will work hard to protect your loved one, while the acquisition of claims in order to pay for future care and medical expenses.
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