Recognizing the Signs of Nursing Home Neglect or Abuse
You should always take your time when viewing potential nursing homes for your loved one. Observing the general emotional state of the patients and the physical condition of the facility is imperative in ensuring you choose a nursing home that will take care of your loved one well. However, when your family member is living in a nursing facility, it can be sometimes difficult to ascertain whether abuse or neglect have occurred and resulted in your loved one suffering from an illness or ailment. The following are some general signs of abuse or neglect that you should look out for in a nursing home:
- Observe the physical conditions of the facility. If the nursing home you are visiting is consistently dirty and smells foul, consider looking for a new facility.
- Look for signs of any pain your loved one is experiencing. Bruises could occur because of abuse or a fall which happened due to insufficient supervision.
- Watch out for any weight loss. This could be a sign of inattentiveness to your loved one’s eating habits or diet.
- The inattentiveness of nursing home staff members can also lead to your loved ones developing bed sores. These sores can occur if a person is unable to get out of bed, move, or turn over, causing them to remain in the same position for a long time.
- Look out for emotional abuse, such as being ignored. This type of treatment may cause a resident to experience a change in their mood, sleeping patterns, weight, or appetite.
- Nursing home staff members should be ready to answer any questions you have. If the staff are not responding to your questions or are deflecting them, then you should take that as a warning sign.
- If the nursing home is often understaffed or the staff often seems frantic, then you should take that as another warning sign. An adequate number of staff members is important to ensure that residents are taken care of and given an appropriate amount of attention.
- Residents should never feel uncomfortable or anxious about staff members. If your loved one does not want a certain staff member to serve them without being able to express a reason, that staff member may be treating them poorly.
Contact a Kane County Personal Injury Lawyer
Your loved ones deserve to be taken care of and treated well during the final years of their life. If your family member has experienced any form of neglect or abuse while receiving treatment at a nursing facility, the attorneys of Kinnally Flaherty Krentz Loran Hodge & Masur P.C. are committed to helping you obtain compensation for the damages which they have suffered. Contact a Naperville nursing home abuse lawyer at 630-907-0909 to schedule a free consultation.
Sources:
https://www.natlawreview.com/article/what-are-signs-nursing-home-neglect
http://www.foxbusiness.com/features/2016/10/17/signs-nursing-home-neglect-abuse.html
https://health.usnews.com/health-news/best-nursing-homes/articles/2013/02/26/9-warning-signs-of-bad-care
