There is no excuse for nursing home abuse. Causing intentional harm or pain - whether physical, mental, psychological or sexual - is not just totally unacceptable, it is illegal.
No nursing home resident should be subjected to abuse, yet far too many are. Often caretakers (regardless of whether or not they are underpaid) take out their frustrations on nursing home residents by pinching or scratching...as if that somehow is better than hitting them (which also happens). Or they berate or belittle the patient, treating the nursing home patient as something less than human.
Caretakers may also try to make their jobs easier by immobilizing a patient or ignoring them when they need to be moved to avoid bedsores or to have their diapers changed.
Regardless of the rationalization a caretaker might make, there is no excuse for this treatment and it is a violation of both state and federal laws.
If a family member suspects abuse might be going on, the first thing they need to do is to talk to the nursing home administration to get it to stop immediately. Unfortunately, family members might not discover the abuse until it is too late...or the nursing home administration might try to sweep it under the table.
As a result, it might be time to hire a lawyer who handles nursing home abuse cases.
Since many nursing home residents have trouble communicating, abuse in nursing homes can be hard to detect or prove. That being the case, nursing home abuse cases often require a lawyer who specializes in nursing home abuse to prove the resident was subject to abuse.
To find skilled legal help with your potential nursing home abuse claim, FindLaw offers an online legal directory that allows you to search for a law firm or attorney specializing in nursing home abuse near you.
Simply type in "nursing home abuse" in the Legal Issue box and your location or zip code in the Location box, then hit the Find Lawyers button. The results will provide you with a list of attorneys in your area (as well as a separate extended area list) of lawyers who can help you with your nursing home abuse case.
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