Nursing home abuse can take many forms including physical, emotional, financial, and sexual. As baby boomers begin to fill up retirement and nursing homes, it’s time to put an end to the abuse. Statistics show that 43 percent of adults over the age of 65 will spend some time in a nursing home during their lifetime.
We must make sure that our loved ones who are living in a nursing home are just as safe as they would be in their own homes. The elderly living in a nursing home are among some of society’s most vulnerable people, even the slightest abuse should not be tolerated, it should be reported.
We entrust nursing homes with the safe care of our loved ones, the very ones who raised us, and we expect them to care for them without abuse. We must be ever vigilant in keeping close tabs on our loved ones while they are residents at a nursing home. Abuse can be subtle, spotting the signs of nursing home abuse is critical to stopping the practice.
Nursing Home Abuse Appears In Many Forms
Physical abuse may be the most obvious of nursing home abuse because it usually results in bruising, fractured bones, or even death. Physical abuse can even take the form of drugging the resident to incapacitate them, or it could include the use of physical restraints. In an understaffed nursing home this form of abuse can make the residents easier to manage.
Another common form of nursing home abuse is emotional abuse which can include humiliation, shouting, threatening, intimidation, and isolation. Emotional abuse can be extremely damaging to a senior living in a nursing home.
Financial abusers are usually in a position to steal money or other possessions by using their access to the resident’s financial information. This could include stealing credit card information or they could charge for services or medications not delivered. You should always be alert to sudden changes in your loved ones finances.
Nursing home abuse sometimes appears in the form of sexual abuse, the most de-humanizing form of abuse of the elderly. Some victims are completely incapacitated and unable to resist, making this the most distasteful nursing home abuse of all. Please call 800.722.0765 now if you suspect abuse or are being abused, we can help you.
Spotting Nursing Home Abuse
The best defense against nursing home abuse is regular visits to a loved one who is a resident. Abusers are less likely to abuse a resident who receives regular visits. When you visit your loved ones, here are some signals of possible abuse you may want to watch for:
- Weight loss due to bad nutrition
- Bedsores and stiff joints
- Missing possessions or sudden withdrawals from financial accounts
- Unexplained bruises, cuts, bleeding, fractures, or burns
- Staff hesitates or refuses to allow visitors immediate access
- Residents appear overmedicated
- Unsanitary or unsafe conditions
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Contact Personal Injury Lawyer
By being diligent and visiting your loved ones as often as possible and watching for signals of possible abuse you can help your loved ones gracefully through their twilight years. If you or a loved one have suffered nursing home abuse of any kind please contact an experienced personal injury lawyer now at The Law Offices of Nadrich & Cohen, we can help you.
