Top Reasons to Sue a Nursing Home

Nursing home abuse is more widespread than most people think. According to the Nursing Home Abuse Center, approximately 2 million elders in the U.S. aged 65 and older have suffered some form of abuse at the hands of a caregiver. The elderly deserve to be in a secure environment with concerned caregivers, but unfortunately, this isn’t the case for many seniors, as the statistics show.

 If there’s one thing you should expect of a nursing home, it’s care. You want to know the organization is putting as much time and effort as they need to look after your elderly relative properly. If he or she is experiencing any form of neglect or abuse from a professional caregiver inside that particular care home, you should immediately report it to the authorities.

Here are some of the top reasons people sue nursing homes:

Not monitoring residents properly: Residents of nursing homes are very susceptible to falls. This type of injury is often preventable and is the greatest risk that comes with a lack of supervision. Correct supervision of residents can help prevent injuries, infections and improve health outcomes.

Negligent Personnel Decisions: Careless hiring practices, such as understaffing, can lead to abuse and neglect. Limited staff in nursing homes causes stress in caregivers, which in some situations results in abuse and neglect of the elders. Hiring staff with a history of abusive behavior or a criminal record can also put residents at greater risk.

Physical, emotional, or sexual abuse: Under no circumstances are caregivers or other residents consented to harm or abuse residents physically, emotionally, or sexually through methods such as social isolation, humiliation, or coercion.

Financial exploitation: Residents with medical ailments such as dementia often cannot handle their finances. Dishonest personnel can cash checks without permission, forge signatures from residents, steal money, or force them to sign documents they don’t understand.

Elder Abuse and Neglect are forms of injustice we need to serve our communities and senior people better. If you recognize that Elder Abuse is happening to someone you know, contact us at 888-288-0091 or visit our Elder Abuse Attorney in Los Angeles & Riverside, so that we have time to take action and have the best chance possible of a successful resolution.