Placing someone you love in a nursing home or assisted living facility can be be an overwhelming and difficult decision. Every year, millions of families go through the process of placing a parent or grandparent in a facility for the purpose of ensuring that their loved ones’ medical and day-to-day needs will be met through the care of qualified, competent, and compassionate professionals.

Sadly, bed sores, falls in the bathroom or off the bed, missing guard rails, fractures that can’t be explained, hunger and thirst, physical neglect, sexual or verbal abuse, and mistakes when dispensing medication can happen in poorly managed, abusive, or understaffed facilities. Patients of nursing homes have human and civil rights and should be treated with dignity and care at all times. Neglect in a nursing home is never acceptable.

While families entrust nursing home and assisted living facilities to provide the standard of care to which the family and facility agreed, unfortunately, all too often the facility fails to provide the care their elderly patients require. As the United States’ population ages, elderly residents and recovering patients more and more are becoming the victims of neglect or abuse by nursing home staff. And the attorneys at Phillips & Paollicelli, LLP are determined to ensure this horrifying practice comes to an end.

What is Nursing Home Abuse?

Elder neglect, nursing home abuse, or nursing home negligence typically occurs when a resident does not receive proper physical, medical, or emotional attention. Neglect can pose serious risk of harm to victims. In some instances, neglect can escalate to physical, emotional, or financial abuse.

Every year, more than two million seniors are victims of elder physical, psychological, or sexual abuse. Even more tragic is that for every nursing home abuse and neglect case reported, experts have estimated that there could be as many as five or more cases that don’t get reported. Beyond failing to provide the respect and dignity our loved ones deserve, research shows that abused elders do not live as well or as long as those who receive proper care, even in the absence of life-threatening and chronic conditions.

The lawyers at Phillips & Paollicelli, LLP are committed to holding those responsible for nursing home abuse, which is essential for the sake of your loved one and the millions of others who can be saved this indignity in the future.

Types of Elder Abuse

Compared to those that live at home or with family, adults over the age of 65 are four times as likely to die of a fall-related injury if they live in a nursing home. And though physical abuse is the most common form of elder abuse, senior citizens sometimes also suffer emotional abuse, neglect, financial exploitation, or sexual abuse.

Some of the more common signs of physical abuse of the elderly include:

• Torn or bloody clothing

• Broken bones

• Unexplained bruises and cuts

Emotional abuse of the elderly may include:

• Intimidating or terrorizing the patient

• Humiliating, ignoring or mocking the patient

• Isolating the patient from activities or other residents

If your elderly loved one has been neglected, you may notice:

• Medications administered improperly or not administered at all

• Unclean living conditions, dirty clothing, or soiled bed linens

• Undernourishment, or lack of hydration

Financial exploitation is the most common form of non-physical elder abuse. An unethical or immoral caregiver may:

• Fraudulently misuse the victim’s bank accounts or credit cards

• Steal money, belongings, or the victim’s identity

• Forge the victim’s signature

• Transfer money or authorize withdrawals without the victim’s knowledge

Though horrifying to imagine, if your elderly loved one has been sexually abused, he or she may suffer from or show:

• Bleeding near genital or anal areas

• Sexually transmitted diseases

• Bloody clothing – particularly undergarments

• Bruising near the breasts or genitals

Has your loved one suffered from Nursing Home Abuse or Neglect? Your family may have a claim.

If you have a loved one whom you suspect has suffered from neglect or abuse at a nursing home, you may have a claim against the facility. The attorneys at Phillips & Paolicelli, LLP have focused on defending victims from nursing home neglect for over 20 years.

Contact Us today at (855) 220-6770 to set up a free consultation.