8 Reasons to Sue Nursing Home

A nursing home provides a safe environment for sick and aging people who do not need hospital treatment but cannot be cared for at home. These safe spaces come to our aid when we need support and a helping hand in caring for our loved ones.

Unfortunately, some nursing homes take advantage of this vulnerability, and instead of providing a safe environment, they become burdensome. According to a study by Nursing Home Abuse Centre, in the United States, an estimated 1 to 2 million seniors have been victims of abuse in nursing homes. Similarly, research shows less than 10% of instances of physical elder abuse and less than 5% of allegations of financial exploitation are reported to government agencies.

What Acton Can You Take If Abuse Occurs?

If you think your loved one has been injured due to nursing home abuse, you may want to consider filing a lawsuit. When nursing homes fail to meet the type of care expected to provide, the residents and the people who care for them deserve compensation. In addition, a family who blindly trusts nursing homes and leaves their loved ones in a facility that allegedly takes care of their residents deserves some peace of mind.

Abuse is not the only reason to claim compensation for the health of your loved ones. If you’re wondering can you sue a nursing home for neglect, you definitely can! The neglect these elders face in the facility they call home leads to traumatic emotions and psychological harm. This harm can even result in death or a shorter life expectancy.

Filing a lawsuit will help you get some closure and financial support for the abuse your loved one has suffered. However, your settlement depends on the case you and your lawyer decide to file against the nursing home.

Reasons to sue a nursing home

There are multiple reasons to file a lawsuit against a nursing home, including unsafe conditions, inadequate staffing, lack of supervision, financial abuse, physical abuse, and neglect. Let’s explore each situation in detail.

1. Physical Abuse

Inflicting bodily harm or pain intentionally, recklessly, or negligently constitutes physical abuse. It may also include exerting physical pressure on residents, such as hitting, pushing, or injuring them, contributing to pressure sores and other injuries.

Physical abuse in nursing homes also involves the misuse of restraints. Restraints are supposed to be temporary and should only be allowed to be used for medical reasons. However, often inadequate staff uses these to discipline the patients, which can cause injuries and physical harm. In addition, the prolonged use of restraints can cause muscle weakness, bone weakness, and muscular dystrophy.

2. Neglect

The most common occurrences of nursing home neglect include failing to provide adequate nutrition or hydration or failing to assist them with medications. In addition, when the nursing staff fails to provide adequate assistance, it can lead to bedsores, lice, wounds, and infections.

3. Unsanitary or hazardous conditions

Nursing home staff and caregivers are often responsible for maintaining seniors’ hygiene and keeping their living areas clean. In the absence of effective staffing, residents and their facilities frequently suffer from unhealthy and unsanitary conditions, leading to poor health conditions, infections, and diseases.

4. Poor Hiring

Nursing homes are often understaffed or employ employees with poor skills or a history of abuse or criminal activity. Poor hiring practices can result in overworked and exhausted caregivers and nurses and under-qualified individuals causing harm and abuse to nursing home residents.

5. Insufficient supervision

A caretaker team that is understaffed or unskilled could result in residents not receiving the proper supervision. In a nursing home, falls are one of the most common and preventable causes of injury. This lack of supervision increases the risk of falls. A resident who receives proper supervision is likely to live a more fulfilling life with improved health.

6. Financial Exploitation

Employees at senior living homes have been caught falsifying signatures, cashing checks without the resident’s permission, forcing residents to sign documents they do not fully understand, or stealing money and possessions from residents. According to a 2009 study, elder financial abuse costs about $2.6 billion a year. Unfortunately, the victims are often unaware of the crimes, which means financial abuse goes unpunished for years before it is discovered.

7. Poor Medical Care

Any potential situation a nursing home professional may encounter requires them to meet a medical level of care. Even if the standard only involves knowing how to arrange for appropriate medical care or what to do at an urgent care center or hospital. Employees who fail to do so may be held responsible for damages caused by their employer.

8. Sexual Abuse

Interfering with a consenting adult’s sexual life constitutes sexual abuse. In other words, this holds whether the contact was initiated by threat, force, incapacity, or another method. The inappropriate exchange of sexual information, unwanted sexual advances, and showing sexually explicit videos or images to residents are also forms of sexual abuse. Apart from the abuse described in this article, nursing homes can also be held criminally liable for sexual assaults committed by their staff and the failure to protect residents from such assaults adequately.

9. Abandonment

Leaving nursing home residents to fend for themselves can lead to severe psychological damage. Additionally, it can result in physical injury if residents cannot care for themselves. There is also the risk of falling when unattended or getting injured in other ways.

Residents may even feel abandoned or socially castrated when they are left alone in their rooms for a long time. They may even get scared if left without a caretaker outside the nursing home. Older adults may feel socially isolated, negatively affecting their mental health. Several studies have shown that feeling isolated can lead to a 50% increase in dementia and a 32% increase in strokes.

Conclusion

Proving negligence or abuse in a nursing home can be complex, especially when ambiguous or incomplete evidence. Therefore, you should consult an attorney with experience handling nursing home abuse cases if you’re considering filing a claim against a nursing home or other long-term care facility.