Many of America’s nursing homes are wonderful, warm places.
However, there remains an issue with abusive staff behavior in some of America’s nursing homes that must be addressed.
If you have a loved one in a nursing home or are planning on admitting a loved one to a nursing home soon, you need to be aware of potential abuse scenarios.
Most importantly, you need to know when (and how) to hire a nursing home abuse lawyer if your loved one’s stay becomes dangerous in any way, shape, or form.
The Importance of Nursing Homes
Nursing homes are one of the most important health institutions in America. Without them, many of our elderly citizens would struggle to lead happy, healthy, and productive lives, after all.
Due to this, it’s crucial that any family with an elderly loved one in need of extended, daily care consider placing their loved one in a quality nursing home.
That being said, it’s critical to search far and wide for the best nursing home possible in your area. If there is no quality nursing home in your area, looking outward for more possibilities is crucial.
Unfortunately, there is a nursing home abuse problem plaguing America’s less-reputable nursing homes, so you want to ensure your loved one is in a safe, positive environment during their golden years.
If you or a loved one are impacted by nursing home abuse, you should contact a nursing home abuse lawyer in your area ASAP.
Doing so will help prevent future abuse from occurring, and will allow you to seek justice (and compensation) for your elderly loved one’s suffering.
Signs of Abuse
Knowing how to look out for signs of nursing home abuse is key to protecting your home-bound loved one.
If you wait too long to confront your loved one about potential abuse, it can lead to catastrophic consequences.
Additionally, by watching out for your elderly loved one’s safety and well-being, you’ll simultaneously watch over every other resident that’s residing within their nursing home.
It’s everyone’s responsibility to keep our elderly and at-risk populations safe in America, after all.
Firstly, you should be looking for signs of physical abuse. Unexplained injuries, slip-and-fall accidents, bed sores (elderly patients need comfortable beds, after all), rampant infections, and unexplained STDs are some of the most commonplace signs of potential abuse happening behind the scenes. That being said, other signs of physical abuse can occur.
Secondly, you should be looking out for signs of emotional/psychological abuse.
If your elderly loved ones are experiencing rapid, violent mood changes, or they suddenly become emotionally withdrawn and antisocial, it could point toward abusive behavior happening in secret.
Confronting your loved one in a place that’s far away from potentially prying eyes and ears is key to allowing them to trust you.
Lastly, you should be aware of your elderly loved one’s financial health. Unfortunately, many nursing home abuse victims have their bank accounts and savings preyed upon by abusive staff members.
If your loved one’s accounts are suddenly becoming chaotic, or if they are giving away large gifts to workers, you may want to intervene to ensure financial abuse is not happening behind the scenes.
Common Nursing Home Risks
If you’re searching for a nursing home in 2023, you need to find one that’s aware of the risks posed in most nursing home environments.
They should have clean, immaculate environments that have safety precautions in place to prevent common hazards.
Slip-and-fall accidents are especially common and lead to many nursing home injuries and deaths every year. Other environment-related hazards should be kept under control as well.
If you’re uncertain about whether a nursing home you’re looking at is right for your loved one, be sure to look at online reviews and online history for said nursing home.
Doing so can help you have the peace of mind that you’re hiring only the best possible nursing home near you to take care of your elderly loved one.
The more effort you put into the search process, the more confident you’ll feel about leaving your elderly loved one’s care in the hands of (at first) professional strangers.
How a Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Can Help
Nursing home abuse lawyers across the country have dedicated their lives to helping the elderly populations within nursing homes.
They hold abusive nursing homes and staff members accountable and seek compensation for their suffering.
If you or a loved one needs the assistance of a nursing home abuse lawyer, you should get into contact with one quickly.
Time is of the essence, and the quicker you are about uncovering abuse, the faster the process for preventing future abuse will become.