Every year, over one million instances of abuse occur in nursing homes and long term care facilities. Fortunately, the law allows for compensation for damages, providing monetary relief to abused residents or neglected residents, in emotional and tragic times. Although the Nursing Home Reform Act establishes standards that were to reform practices and procedures in nursing homes and improve care rendered to residents, injuries, and even wrongful death, still occur.
Nursing home abuse or nursing home neglect occurs in a variety of ways:
- Physical abuse through hitting
- Bed Sores or pressure ulcers through neglectful care
- Broken bones from fall downs due to improper assistance orders or neglectful assistance
- Broken bones from falling out of bed due to failure to raise bed rails
- Medication errors
- Malnutrition and dehydration
- Infections
- Sexual assault
Many of the injuries and death arising from this type of neglect can be prevented if the proper standards are followed. If a resident is accidentally injured or becomes unexpectedly ill, the staff is required to notify the family. Here at Tortoreti, Tomes & Callahan, P.C. we have compassion and concern for your elderly relative who is not just a nursing home resident, but was at one time someone's baby and is still someone's mother, father or sibling. We not only seek to obtain fair compensation for you, but will assist you in finding other resources to help in your elderly relative's care.
For a checklist on what the United States Government recommends you ask a nursing home, click here.
Nursing Home residents also have certain rights. The nursing home is required to advise you of these rights in writing before you enter the nursing home:
- Be Treated with Dignity and Respect
- Be Informed of services and fees in writing before you enter
- Manage your own money or choose someone else you trust to manage it for you
- Have Privacy and keep and use your personal belongings and property
- Be Informed about your medical conditions and medications
- See your own doctor if you choose to
- Refuse medications and treatment
The following are some helpful links on comparing Nursing Homes:
Our firm often gets calls from clients who have questions about how to choose the right nursing home for a loved one. An excellent tool to find an compare nursing homes across the country is www.medicare.gov/nhcompare. The medicare system provides nursing home ratings based upon health inspections, staffing levels and quality measures. After receiving those ratings, you should also conduct your own in-person inspection of the nursing home and utilize the nursing home checklist also found on the website.
