Every year, 10% or more of nursing home patients encounter some maltreatment. Abuse of elderly elders can have long-lasting physical, psychological, and financial repercussions.
Simply put, there is no justification for any nursing home patient to be mistreated or to go without the care they require and deserve. Having access to a professional attorney will help.
Federal nursing home standards allow residents to be free from corporal punishment and verbal, sexual, physical, and mental abuse.
They also have the right to be free from forced isolation. Long-term care institutions are home to about two million Americans, and abuse and neglect of the elderly are widespread problems.
Understanding the symptoms of neglect can help you avoid or end it before your loved one experiences severe suffering. If you are worried about an older family member, look for these abuse warning signs and symptoms.
Signs You Need An Attorney For Nursing Home Abuse
Given below are some of the most important signs of nursing home abuse that you must watch out for if you suspect anything off about your loved one or the service providers at the place:
1. Lack Of Personal Hygiene
Residents and their hygiene suffers in nursing homes with insufficient personnel. As a result, numerous individuals require assistance with various tasks, including dressing, cleaning their teeth, trimming their nails, taking a bath, combing their hair, and more.
Unfortunately, a significant problem at nursing homes across the nation is a lack of regular dental treatment.
Lack of hygiene is indicated by bedsores, open wounds, and discoloured or painful skin on certain body areas, typically the hips, buttocks, back, and ankles.
Because nursing home staff must transport elderly patients who cannot move independently, they indicate neglect. Bed sores have the potential to cause fatal medical problems.
2. Emotionally Disturbed
Physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, as well as other forms of abuse, can all manifest as withdrawal in behavior.
Your loved one may be a victim of elder abuse if you’ve seen them withdraw from activities or suddenly appear emotionally melancholic.
Naturally, withdrawal does not necessarily point to misuse. However, it can occasionally be a warning sign, so you shouldn’t dismiss it.
The most frequent kind of abuse in nursing homes is by far emotional. But unfortunately, there are a lot of typical instances, such as shouting at people and threatening them with danger.
While it may not cause immediate physical injury, emotional abuse is a very harmful kind of abuse that can have lasting effects.
3. Bruises And Physical Harm
The use of physical force that might cause bodily harm, physical discomfort, or disability is referred to as physical abuse. The term “abuse” can refer to various behaviors, including shoving, kicking, pushing, hitting, beating, shaking, slapping, pinching, and burning.
Physical abuse can also result in inappropriate drug usage, physical restraints, force-feeding, and physical punishment.
In a nursing home, falling may signify elder abuse or neglect. In addition, falls frequently result in fractures and are especially risky for elderly adults.
A hip break from a fall might rapidly cause the victim to lose consciousness. Make sure the residents use wheelchairs, walkers, or canes as part of the precautions.
In a care home, bruises may be a sign of physical abuse. Because their skin tissue is thinner and more sensitive, older adults tend to bruise more frequently than younger people.
According to the National Center on Elder Abuse, these markings might be caused by striking, hitting, shaking, or slapping.
4. Unexplained Medical Conditions
Lack of proper diet and hydration and failure to help patients with their prescriptions are common examples of nursing home neglect.
Incorrect medicine given to an older loved one may indicate elder abuse. Nursing home abuse is characterized by behavioral changes, unexplained weight gain or loss, disorientation, memory loss, and lethargic conduct.
Nursing home employees may have given residents medicine that wasn’t necessary to sedate them.
In a residential hospital, sexual assault can occur between patients and staff or between residents.
An unexplained illness or venereal disease is one sign of sexual abuse. Testing results that indicate a person has unexpectedly got an STD may raise questions about possible criminal activity.
5. Malnutrition
Elderly residents in nursing facilities frequently experience dehydration and malnutrition as an issue of neglect. Older adults who are chronically dehydrated can have seizures, brain edema, renal failure, and even comas.
Another typical indicator of neglect in nursing home patients is malnutrition or an inadequate supply of nutrients in the body.
The provision of enough water to residents in nursing homes is a need. Neglect is the unwillingness or failure of a person to carry out any aspect of their obligations or duties to an elder.
Approximately 1,400 nursing home residents passed away between 1999 and 2002 due to malnutrition and dehydration.
Neglect can show itself as dehydration, starvation, untreated bed sores, and inadequate personal cleanliness, among other things.
Find The Help You Need
Nursing home staff must be conscious of their behavior and patient boundaries. The Eldercare Locator of the Administration on Aging offers details on legal support, a long-term care (LTC) ombudsman program, and abuse prevention and reporting.
Patients can contact their long-term care ombudsperson if they believe their issues still need to be handled.
To ensure they are addressing their needs, nursing home staff members must be conscious of their behavior and patients’ boundaries.
Potential residents should be aware of the policies of a nursing home before deciding to live there.
