Preventing Nursing Home Abuse for Families

All you want, if you’re facing the decision of putting a loved one in a nursing home is safety and care for that person, and long-term care facilities and nursing homes are supposed to deliver on that hope, yet many don’t deliver. We, as a society, can’t just drop off the loved one and assume that they’re being cared for and respected by their paid caregiver like used to be the case. An experienced Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Attorney will be able to help bring to light the injustice that your elderly loved one has suffered, and work hard to get results and make right this terrible wrong.

Reduce the Risk of Abuse and Neglect

You can reduce the risk of abuse and neglect for your loved one by:

1. Evaluate the Long-Term Care Facility. Watch for nursing homes, long-term caregivers, and assisted living facilities in South Carolina that place profits before patients. Review the following factors at least once a year (as management and facility operations change).
   1. Is the staff qualified and adequately trained? Poorly trained staff is a big risk factor that leads to abuse, neglect, exploitation and even theft.
   2. Does the facility investigate staff history violence or drug use? Ask for confirmation and notice of new hires.
   3. Are there adequate numbers of staff employed at all times? Negligence can occur unintentionally by honest, professional caregivers because of their day-to-day situation. They cannot reasonably keep up with demands because the facility is not hiring appropriately.
2. Make routine contact to monitor your friend or family member’s well-being. Phone, in-person or even e-mail and Skype can help you stay in touch with the person’s condition.
   1. Is your friend or family member isolated from outside contact or from other residents? Isolation adds to risk of neglect or abuse.
   2. Is the resident routinely asked about conditions at the facility? It’s well known that seniors are reluctant to report abuse out of embarrassment or fear. Or trying to not be a bother.
3. Report any suspicions to South Carolina’s Adult Protect Services. Reporting suspicions of elder abuse is not an accusation. It’s a request for authorities to investigate the facility. It is the first step to rule out or establish conditions for abuse or neglect. If Adult Protective Services have not found any violations, and you still suspect elder abuse, neglect or exploitation, consult a legal professional in nursing home abuse.

What to Do Now?

If your loved one has been injured, abused, or neglected while under the care of a nursing home or other care professional, please contact a Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Lawyer today. The lawyer will be able to discuss the best course of action and fight for your justice and human rights!

Nursing Home Elder Abuse

Very sadly, we have not the resources to care for our elderly loved ones’ with proper supervision all the time like they may need–especially if they have Alzheimer’s or other very taxing disease–which is why we may have to put them into a nursing home. You should feel like you’re getting proper care 24/7 from these homes. Unfortunately, these nursing homes may actually be unsafe and your loved one may experience abuse, neglect, or some other form of exploitation at the hands of a nursing home. Estimates state 700,000 to 3.5 million seniors are abused, neglected or are exploited each year. Despite this horrific statistic, many seniors are too frightened to report their experiences themselves so they stay in their abusive situation. As the population gets older and older as the baby boomers age, this nursing home abuse cannot be tolerated anymore, and an experienced South Carolina nursing home elder abuse lawyer may be able to help you take action, report nursing home elder abuse, and recover damages from injuries or wrongful death.

Taking Action Against Nursing Home Abuse

There are a few ways action can be taken against a nursing home that’s responsible for injuring others as a result of their negligence, abuse, exploitation, false imprisonment, or violations of criminal statutes, as well as violations of regulations pertaining to their licensing, maintenance, and general operation. One or more of the following can be used to hold a nursing home responsible:

• An investigation and finding by an adult protective services agency or the regulatory agency for nursing homes (in South Carolina it is the Department of Environmental Control);
• A civil cause of action for damages; and/or
• A criminal prosecution.

These three different types of action have different goals. For instance, the goal of involving the protective services investigation is to provide immediate help to an abused elder and prevent further harm (of the elder or any other elder in the home). The objective of the civil action is to get compensation for any damages incurred, and criminal prosecution aims to punish the abuser for their harmful actions (or lack of action).

These nursing home abuse lawyers represent elderly clients and families who have been victims of:

• Bedsores, pressure sores, decubitus ulcers, and infections;
• Dehydration and malnutrition;
• Falls, dislocations and fractures;
• Financial abuse and exploitation;
• Inadequate staffing, training, and negligent supervision claims;
• Inappropriate use of physical or chemical restraints;
• Medication and prescription errors; and/or
• Physical, emotional, and psychological abuse and neglect

Our investigators and attorneys will move swiftly and discretely to uncover and preserve critical evidence and aggressively seek the maximum amount of compensation available under South Carolina laws. Please don’t wait–let us join your fight against nursing home abuse and other forms of elder abuse.