People who are in nursing homes count on the staff members to help them with their daily care needs. The depth of reliance depends on the individual needs of the resident. Some have minimal needs, but others depend on the staff for everything.
Most residents don’t think about what may happen if the staff members don’t care for them properly. Those residents can suffer great harm if they become victims of nursing home negligence or abuse.
What’s considered nursing home abuse?
Nursing home abuse can come in many forms. These include physical abuse that can leave cuts, bruises and broken bones. This may stem from things like rough handling of residents, punching, kicking, slapping, or being aggressive.
Some forms of nursing home abuse aren’t as obvious. These can include things like verbal abuse if the staff members are berating the residents or yelling at them. In some cases, isolation of residents is the way the residents are abused.
Nursing home negligence can come in the form of failing to help the residents with their daily care needs. These cases are often noticed when someone realizes that the resident’s hygiene needs aren’t being taken care of, which can include not being dressed appropriately, having a foul body odor because of lack of baths or going without needed incontinence care.
Unfortunately, many cases of nursing home negligence and abuse continue on for so long that the victim suffers harm. Those residents may opt to pursue claims for compensation to help cover the costs of medical care and other expenses directly related to the injuries.