Handling Cases Involving Different Kinds of Nursing Home Abuse
Nursing home abuse can take several different forms, all of which can cause physical, mental, emotional, or financial injuries. The following are the main kinds of nursing home abuse that may lead to a personal injury case:
Physical Abuse in a Nursing Home
Using physical force against an elderly person in a Florida nursing home is a serious issue. Signs that physical abuse is causing your loved one injury or pain and can include hitting, kicking, burning, shoving, or using inappropriate restraints.
Physical abuse in a nursing home can also involve inappropriate use of medications, physical punishments of any kind, forcing a resident or patient to eat, and using physical restraints.
Some signs of physical abuse can include:
- Broken bones and fractures
- Bruising, cuts, and welts
- Open or unhealed wounds
- Scars or signs of old wounds that have healed
- Signs that your loved one is afraid, in general or of a specific staff member
- Sudden changes your loved one’s personality or behavior
- Refusal to have visitors
Sexual Abuse in a Nursing Home
Sexual abuse of an elderly is any type of sexual contact or behavior involving a resident that is not consensual. This type of abuse can involve any unwanted and inappropriate touching, exposure of private parts, rape, and much more. Sexual abuse in a nursing home often involves in sexual contact with a person who is incapable of consent because of incapacitation, mental deficiency, etc. This is a serious form of sexual abuse.
Some signs that your loved one is being sexually abused in a nursing home can include:
- Sudden diagnosis of STDs or genital infections
- Bruises or bleeding on genitals
- Stained or torn underwear
- Sudden changes your loved one’s personality or behavior
- Refusal to have visitors
Emotional abuse in a Nursing Home
Emotional abuse of a person in a nursing home is defined as using words or other actions to inflict emotional pain or distress, and can include humiliation, threats, insults, intimidation, isolation from others, and more. Lots of emotional abuse in a nursing home takes the form of treating the elderly person like a child or like an annoyance. Emotional abuse can also take the form of isolation from friends or family, holding back meals, etc.
Signs that your loved one is suffering from emotional or psychological abuse in a nursing home may include:
- Being agitated or upset
- Lack of communication or unresponsiveness
- Unusual behavior or statements
- Sudden changes your loved one’s personality or behavior
- Refusal to have visitors
Neglect in a Nursing Home
Nursing home neglect involves a failure or refusal to provide adequate care to an elderly individual, including water, food, shelter, hygiene, clothing, medicine, safety, comfort, and more. In general, nursing home neglect centers around a refusal or failure to provide a person with the care they need to live comfortably.
Signs that your loved one is being neglected in a Florida nursing home include:
- Unsanitary conditions when you visit
- Soiled clothing
- Room too cold or too hot
- Lack of necessity items
- Bed sores
- Malnutrition or dehydration
- Untreated health issues
- Untaken medicines
- Medicated health issues not improving or worsening
Financial abuse in a Nursing Home
The financial abuse of an elder is defined as stealing money from a nursing home resident or otherwise using fraud or deceptive tactics to gain access to a resident’s financial accounts or money for the abuser’s wrongful personal gain. Of course, it is illegal to take money from an elderly person under one’s care. Elderly financial abuse can also include forging a signature, asking for cash, using the elder’s checks, abusing power of attorney, etc.
Signs your loved one is being financially exploited in a nursing home include:
- Finding or receiving financial documents with caregiver’s name on it
- Caregiver’s name on elder’s bank card
- Missing money in a bank account
- Misleading fees or services
- Undiscussed changes to will
- Missing ATM card
- Missing possessions
- Seemingly forged signatures on documents
Nursing home abuse can be particularly dangerous because many victims do not report that they are being abused. Some nursing home residents do not have the mental or physical capacity to report abuse, while others may be too afraid to do so. Nursing home abusers may threaten additional harm to the resident or their families or may otherwise intimidate abuse victims to keep them from reporting their injuries.
If you have noticed signs of abuse, you should always report your concerns through the proper channels in the nursing home administration. If no action is taken to remedy the situation, you may need to alert law enforcement authorities to help protect your loved one. Additionally, you should contact an experienced attorney to discuss how your loved one can receive just compensation for their injuries and hold the nursing one responsible for the abuse.
