Nursing homes are meant to be a place of relative safety and comfort for those in their declining years who may not be fully capable of caring for themselves. Sadly, they also present countless opportunities for administration, staff, and other residents to abuse these already vulnerable patients.
Some care homes fail to adequately screen their workers. Others fail to properly supervise their employees, giving them unfettered access to residents’ private paperwork, personal effects, and rooms. Facilities that are understaffed might not have the resources required to closely monitor residents who are unruly and aggressive. Insufficient staff can also mean that the facility’s more subdued residents are overlooked and forgotten.
How Common is Nursing Home Abuse?
In the United States, nursing home neglect and abuse are not uncommon. The World Health Organization calculated that about 17% of people over 60 have experienced abuse or neglect in a care home or equivalent setting.
That same WHO report reveals that 67% of long-term care facility and nursing home workers confessed to engaging in the abuse of a resident within the past year.
Concerned family members should reach out to a Chesapeake-area nursing home abuse lawyer to help them expose the neglect and abuse of their loved ones.
Regrettably, even with the skilled legal representation of our Virginia nursing home abuse lawyers and a successful resolution to your lawsuit, the damage inflicted by nursing home abuse is often irreversible.
Types of Nursing Home Abuse
Regardless of how it happens, nursing home abuse involves an intentional emotionally or physically harmful act knowingly perpetrated against a resident.
Some common types of abuse that occur in Chesapeake nursing homes and long-term care facilities include:
Physical Abuse
Physical abuse takes place anytime an employee, resident, family member, contractor, or other visitor makes physical contact with the victim in a way that is aggressive, offensive, hostile, forceful, or unwanted.
For instance, a worker or other resident might hit the victim if they become impatient or frustrated. Physical abuse also includes cases where a member of staff administers medication by using undue force or applying a resident’s restraints too tightly.
This form of abuse usually leaves bruises, cuts, and marks on the victim’s skin, but not all injuries caused by physical abuse are visible. Sometimes, a resident’s seemingly unjustified anxiety or fear around a particular person is evidence of abuse.
A Virginia nursing home abuse lawyer will know the most effective ways of finding evidence of physical abuse including questioning potential witnesses and examining security footage.
Financial Abuse
Nursing home residents are extremely vulnerable to financial exploitation and abuse.
Dishonest workers can find and use victims’ bank cards or financial information to illegally withdraw money from their accounts. They might also try to bully a resident into designating them, another worker, or the facility itself as the beneficiary of their retirement account or life insurance policy.
A resident’s own family members can also perpetuate financial abuse by using deceit or manipulation to gain control of and access to the victim’s financial assets. In fear for their safety, the victim could allow their abuser to empty their bank accounts, take valuable possessions, or change their will or power of attorney.
The years of experience our Virginia nursing home abuse lawyers bring to the table are advantageous when attempting to prove that financial abuse has taken place. We will thoroughly examine any power of attorney, will, financial records, or trust while we uncover any possible financial abuse.
Without a meticulous assessment of the victim’s assets and financial records, financial abuse could continue unchecked until its effects can no longer be undone.
Sexual Abuse
Sadly, sexual abuse sometimes occurs in care homes, often at the hands of another resident or a member of staff.
Just like physical abuse, sexual abuse doesn’t always leave visible injuries. Oftentimes, major changes in the victim’s personality and behavior are the only clues that this abuse is happening.
Negligence in Nursing Home Facilities
Different from abuse, nursing home neglect and negligence take place when workers exhibit reckless or careless behavior. Long shifts, inadequate training, and understaffing are all contributors to cases of resident neglect.
The mental and physical trauma caused by neglect are just as devastating and long-lasting as trauma caused by physical abuse.
A common example of neglect is when employees ignore or forget to check on residents. Many care home residents rely on the facility’s staff for help with daily activities such as getting in and out of bed, getting dressed and undressed, going to the bathroom, and bathing. Staff is also required to make sure that residents receive the correct doses of the appropriate medications at the right times.
A lapse in one of these tasks might seem trivial but when the vulnerable nature of nursing home residents is taken into account, it isn’t hard to understand how these seemingly minor oversights can prove fatal.
If you have a loved one in a nursing home, you should make sure to keep your eyes open for signs of nursing home neglect, like obvious indications that your relative has not eaten or bathed. Always make your concerns known to workers and supervisors, and contact a nursing home neglect lawyer if you need help.
Although it is possible to recover damages after a case of nursing home neglect, it is also very challenging. If the abuser is a member of staff, a nursing home neglect lawyer will need to closely examine the training they received and the procedures and policies followed by the facility.
Speak With An Experienced Virginia Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer
If you believe your loved one is the victim of neglect or abuse in a Chesapeake-area long-term care facility or nursing home, reach out to one of our local and reputable Virginia nursing home abuse lawyers at Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp by calling (833) 997-1774 and get help protecting your family member as soon as possible.
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