As hard as it may be to send your loved one to a nursing home, the last thing that you would want is to have placed them in danger. Unfortunately, nursing home abuse is more common than we believe and you should understand what that type of abuse is should you send your loved one to a nursing home for assisted living.
It is understood that when you send your family to a nursing home you are expecting that they are getting the best care, especially considering this is not always a free service. Nursing home abuse occurs in several different instances and while it is very common you should be able to understand what the most common nursing home abuses are so that you can be aware when you place your family or loved one in these facilities.
To make matters much worse and alarming, nursing home abuse cases are often gone unreported because no one is made aware of these things. We are going to discuss the most common nursing home abuse types so that you can ensure your family or loved one is not being abused while away at a nursing home.
- Physical abuse. Physical abuse is the most obvious abuse of the four we will discuss. And this can be determined based on physical bruising, scratching, etc. these injuries come from staff, faculty, or other patients hitting, or even restraining your loved ones.
- Emotional abuse is as hard to prove in these instances as it is in any personal injury case. These injuries come about from being under distress. Because your loved one is likely very vulnerable it is easy to be taken advantage of and ridiculed. Your loved one may be afraid and feel alone and say nothing to you. Emotional abuse causes depression, and anxiety.
- Sexual abuse is close to physical abuse in that sometimes these are easy to prove. However, without being informed of sexual contact or misconduct it is hard to handle. You may not think these situations occur, but they do. Should your loved one or someone mention that there has been sexual abuse you should contact a medical professional to get your family member examined.
- Usually as the patients are older, they have finances that they no longer manage. Caretakers are known to also take advantage of this vulnerable state and convince your loved one to pay money to them. Be sure to check your loved ones financial statements and communicate with them as much as possible to ensure that no one is taking their money when they shouldn’t be.
Nursing home abuse comes in many forms. These are the most common forms that you may find. Should your loved one or family member be a victim of nursing home abuse there is a possibility of being compensated for these damages. Speak with a skilled nursing home lawyer in Atlanta, GA as soon as possible to see what your options are.
Thanks to Andrew R. Lynch, P.C. for their insight into personal injury claims and nursing home abuse.