Nursing home abuse is prevalent among elders. Whether it is physical, emotional, or sexual abuse, most old-age adults suffer from such incidents at least once in nursing homes due to the poor treatment of the staff members. Despite their actions, the nursing home staff’s responsibilities are to provide a healthy and happy environment for the resident. Any failure from their side to maintain the residents’ good physical and mental health can land them in trouble if a victim of abuse decides to file a lawsuit against them.
Many old-age adults are unaware of their rights, so they keep suffering in poor facility nursing homes. However, identifying abuse of any kind and taking immediate action is crucial to protect against future tortures. In case of nursing home abuse, a resident must contact a nursing home abuse and neglect attorney as soon as possible.
Follow these steps to report a nursing home abuse case.
- Understand how to identify the symptoms of nursing home abuse
Physical abuse in nursing homes might be easy to identify since there are prominent marks of cruises and wounds on the victims; however, when we talk about emotional or sexual abuse, it might not be so simple to determine whether a person has ill-treated the facility or not.
However, overall you need to understand the signs of all kinds of abuse, so even if you can raise your voice for yourself if you see someone struggling from them, you might be able to help them. Look for signs like a sudden change in the resident’s behavior, poor hygiene, change in the will of assets, etc.
For physical abuse, you can look for any external marks and bruises on a resident’s body part. Check their hands, faces, legs, or even back, where you might see some signs of abuse. For example, the staff member might be hitting them out of frustration. Additionally, you must check for bed soreness in a person.
Bed sores are readily available with little attention and care to the patient. However, due to the negligence of staff members, they do not help the patient change their position for long hours. This causes bed sores to the patient, which can be painful and a discomfort sign for the resident.
- Gather evidence of the abuse
While identifying abuse is a significant part of filing a lawsuit, it certainly is not enough. To ensure that your loved ones are free from such cruel behavior and treatment, you need evidence that they are being tortured in the nursing facility.
Start by documenting their injuries or bruises if there are signs of a physical base. If you think they are under emotional abuse like isolation, blackmail, etc., take them to a psychiatrist and get a clinical report of their mental illness.
