6 Common Types of Nursing Home Abuse
If you have a loved one in a nursing home, it’s important to monitor their safety and well-being. Many families choose a nursing home for their loved ones after it’s no longer safe for them to stay at home.
Knowing the different types of nursing home abuse can help you recognize it sooner, helping to keep your loved one safe. Here are the six types of nursing home abuse you should be familiar with:
Physical Abuse
Physical abuse is what most people think when they hear abuse. It may include hitting, shoving, pushing, or kicking. Physical abuse often leads to cuts, broken bones, bruises, or sprains.
Emotional Abuse
Emotional abuse can be just as common as physical abuse. However, it can also be harder to identify because of a lack of physical injuries. It may include insults, verbal assaults, threats, or intimidation.
Neglect
Neglect occurs when a nursing home’s staff fails to provide a resident with access to basic needs, including food, water, medical care, or shelter.
Sexual Abuse
Sexual abuse is any type of non-consensual sexual contact. This may include all sexual contact since many elderly residents in a nursing home setting are not legally able to give consent.
Financial Abuse
Financial abuse is the mismanagement or intentional misuse of a resident’s funds. It may include using a resident’s signature or credit information or stealing their possessions.
Abandonment
Abandonment is when a caregiver or other person who has responsibility for a resident, abandons them and their needs. This may occur when a caregiver leaves a resident at a shopping or medical place.
Some types of nursing home abuse are easier to identify than others. Many seniors also have co-occurring medical conditions, including dementia, which may lead some to dismiss the signs of elderly abuse.
Signs of Nursing Home Abuse
Knowing the types and signs of nursing home abuse can help you identify wrongdoing faster. You can usually spot physical abuse with unexplained injuries. Emotional abuse may lead to residents becoming fearful of their caregivers or withdrawing altogether. Residents who are neglected may have medical conditions worsen or they may be subject to more conditions due to a lack of health or nutritional care.
Sexual abuse may lead to unexplained bruises or torn clothing. The victim may also appear fearful of the offender. Even sexual abuse can be difficult to identify if your loved one isn’t able to express themselves
Families may not find out about financial abuse until the caregiver has stolen thousands. Abandonment may be hard to identify if your loved one is unable to tell you about the events. Otherwise, abandonment may look like your loved one being left at an external location without transportation, or even being abandoned within the nursing home.
If you believe your loved one is the victim of any type of nursing home abuse, it’s important to take action. Notify the nursing home of the dangerous situation and then file a report with the New Jersey Department of Health. Then, consider hiring a lawyer to help recover the costs associated with nursing home abuse.
Contact an East Orange Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer to Discuss Your Case Today
Seniors in nursing homes and other care facilities deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. Additionally, nursing home staff needs to ensure that patients are safe and secure at all times. If your loved one suffered an injury, or worse, due to nursing home negligence or abuse in New Jersey, you need to speak with a qualified attorney. The experienced nursing home neglect attorneys at Sugarman Law Firm represent clients throughout New Jersey, including Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, and Elizabeth. Call (732) 877-1975 or fill out the online contact form to schedule a free consultation today. We have an office conveniently located at 80 East Main Street, Somerville, NJ 08876, as well as an office in Marlton, NJ.
The articles on this blog are for informative purposes only and are no substitute for legal advice or an attorney-client relationship. If you are seeking legal advice, please contact our law firm directly.
