Articles Posted in Nursing Home Abuse

Georgia law gives nursing home residents the right to be free from chemical and physical restraints that restrict mobility. While there can be legitimate reasons for them, some nursing care facilities use these tools to keep difficult residents in line.

This can be a violation of state and federal law, as both prohibit using restraints for the sake of convenience rather than out medical necessity.

Physical restraints are any devices or equipment used to restrict a resident’s freedom of movement. Common types of physical restraints used in nursing homes include:

Verbal abuse or belittling can always have damaging health effects, causing depression, anxiety, insomnia and even suicide. While all populations can feel the effects of verbal abuse, senior citizens who are dependent upon nursing homes or caretakers are one segment of the population at great risk. Stressed nursing home staff, lack of sufficient staff supervision or background checks and improper nursing home policies can all cause seniors to fall victim to verbal abuse or belittling. As Atlanta, Georgia Elder Abuse Attorneys we know this is a big problem, especially among seniors who cannot or will not speak up for themselves, such as those suffering from dementia.

Seniors, whether they are living in a nursing home facility, assisted living facility or are being cared for in their own home, have the right to be treated with dignity and respect. Unfortunately, when this doesn’t occur and a senior citizen is subject to verbal abuse or belittling, the abuse can have serious and far-reaching effects. In fact, according to the Senior Journal, seniors who experience either physical or mental abuse are three times more likely to die within three years than seniors who are in an environment free of abuse.

If you have been the victim of senior abuse in a nursing home or if your loved one has been victimized by verbal abuse or belittling, it is important to take action. This means not only reporting the abuse so it can be investigated and stopped, but also contacting an Atlanta, Georgia Elder Abuse Attorney who can assist with filing a lawsuit against the nursing home to recover compensation.

Elderly residents in nursing homes often suffer from debilitating physical or mental problems that make them vulnerable and that make it difficult for the seniors to defend themselves or even to speak up when they are mistreated. Unfortunately, because nursing home patients are so vulnerable, nursing home abuse is a major problem throughout the United States. Nursing home abuse takes many forms including physical and mental abuse, but one of the most devastating types of nursing home abuse that we see as Atlanta, Georgia Elder Abuse Lawyers is sexual harassment or sexual assault.

Sexual harassment and sexual assault can and does happen in nursing homes. Staff members who inflict sexual harassment or abuse on patients tend to pick the weakest and the most vulnerable, including those suffering from cognitive diseases. This abuse can have grave consequences including transmission of STDs, bruising and injury, depression and severe emotional trauma.

If you or a loved one has been victimized by sexual harassment or sexual assault in a nursing home, you must take action. Reporting even suspected abuse to law enforcement is essential, and it is also advisable to speak with an Atlanta nursing home abuse lawyer to get help obtaining compensation from the nursing home for damages that were caused by the sexual abuse.

Patients in a nursing home are often unable to keep track of their medications or manage their medications on their own. Typically, nursing home staff will monitor prescriptions, arrange doctor's visits for necessary prescriptions, and administer medications as required. Making sure that patients get the right medication in the correct dosage is, in fact, one of the most important tasks performed by nursing homes since medication is often life-sustaining for seniors. Unfortunately, as Atlanta nursing home abuse attorneys, we know that medication errors can and do happen every day in nursing homes. In some cases, these medication errors are harmless while in other instances they can lead to serious consequences, up-to-and-including death.

If you have been the victim of a medication error in a nursing home or if you have lost a loved one due to death caused by a nursing home medication error, you have legal rights. Contact an experienced Johns Creek, Georgia nursing home abuse attorney for information on how to take action against the nursing home to recover compensation for all losses associated with the medication error.

Johns Creek, Georgia Nursing Home Neglect and Medication Errors

Nursing homes are supposed to provide a place of respite for senior citizens who need medical care or who can no longer live on their own. The obligation of every nursing home is to provide reasonably professional care to patients and to make sure that patients are treated with dignity and respect. Unfortunately, nursing home abuse and neglect are an all-too-common problem in nursing homes, with as many as one to two million elder Americans falling victim to some type of elder abuse.

Abusive or neglectful behavior in a nursing home is always tragic and always has serious consequences. The most devastating cases, however, are those where a senior dies prematurely as a result of improper care or treatment in a nursing home. Death is a sad result of many abuse and neglect cases and not only can the nursing home patient suffer pain prior to the death, but family members can be left with incredible sadness and guilt over the passing.

If one of your family members or loved ones has been victimized by a nursing home, you have legal rights. Georgia law understands that you deserve to be compensated for the extent of your losses and allows you to make a wrongful death claim against a nursing home that was abusive or neglectful. Wrongful death damages can compensate you for the loss of companionship, as well as paying other damages including funeral costs and the costs of medical bills incurred prior to the death. An Atlanta nursing home abuse lawyer can help you to take action and file a wrongful death claim.

Nursing home residents who are not able to breath on their own may rely on a breathing tube to help ensure they get the oxygen they need. Typically, when a nursing home resident needs a breathing tube, he or she also requires a ventilator and will need to be fed through a feeding tube. Because those on breathing tubes depend on nursing home staff both to keep the breathing tube clean and free of debris and to provide them with life-sustaining nutrition, these individuals are literally dependent on nursing home staff to keep them alive.

Nursing homes assume the responsibility of providing reasonable care when they take in a patient, and for those using a breathing tube, this means that nursing home staff must be extra vigilant in monitoring the patient. When staff is neglectful and a breathing tube becomes clogged, oxygen deprivation can occur, causing serious injuries and even death.

A patient who suffers damage as a result of a clogged breathing tube may be eligible for compensation from the nursing home for the costs of all future medical care made necessary due to the oxygen deprivation. If death results, surviving family members of the victim may file a wrongful death lawsuit. To obtain compensation in any type of claim against the nursing home, it is advisable to seek assistance from a Georgia nursing home abuse lawyer.