Imagine moving your family member into a nursing home, expecting the staff will take good care of your loved one, only to learn weeks or months later that the nursing home employees abused your loved one. It is an unfortunate reality that many families with elderly loved ones in nursing homes have experienced this moment of realization.
Families place a lot of trust in nursing homes and their staff when they move a loved one into the nursing facility. So, to learn later on that the nursing home staff were abusing, neglecting, or failing to give adequate nursing care to one's loved one would be very frustrating.
However, nursing home abuse is not always as straightforward as nursing home staff physically abusing a resident or completely ignoring a resident for long periods of time.
For one man, nursing home abuse took the form of neglect. The neglect occurred when the nursing home staff failed to inform the man's physician about declines in the man's health. The physician reportedly told a state inspector that if he had known all of the details of the patient's deteriorating condition he would have had the patient moved to a hospital setting.
In addition, the nursing staff at this man's nursing home failed to report that the man had ingested a topical ointment, which could be hazardous to a person's health if consumed in a large quantity. The man was later found dead and the nursing home was cited for failing to report the man's health conditions to his physician.
Family members may have to advocate for their loved ones living in nursing homes. For some families, advocating for their family member may come after their loved one's death in an effort to prevent future nursing home abuse. Filing a medical malpractice lawsuit against the nursing home may be of interest to some families seeking justice after their loved one's death.
