What are the Different Types of Nursing Home Abuse?
When you entrust a nursing home with the care of your aging loved one, you never expect that they can be victims of abuse, neglect, or wrongful death. Sadly, abuse in nursing home facilities is rampant in the country.
Nursing home abuse is heartbreaking. If your loved one is a victim, speak to skilled lawyers from a reputable personal injury law firm in Kansas City, MO, for legal help. They can stand by your side and fight to ensure your family achieves justice for the following types of abuse suffered by your loved one:
Physical Abuse
Physical abuse is often the easiest to identify and prove in court. Victims often display the following telltale signs:
- Broken bones
- Restraint marks
- Bruises and untreated injuries
- Irregularities in medication doses
- Sprains and signs of bleeding
- Damaged clothing
Emotional or Psychological Abuse
Emotional, verbal, or psychological abuse is a devastating form of elder abuse that severely impacts the victim’s overall health. The victim often loses the desire to maintain their health or life, hence the strong link between emotional distress and diminished physical health.
Emotional abuse includes the following:
- Withheld affection and social isolation
- Ridicule and humiliation
- Manipulation or gaslighting
- Intimidation or threats of violence
- Demeaning words and behavior
Signs and symptoms of emotional abuse may vary from one victim to another but generally include emotional outbursts, mood changes, and signs of fear. If you believe your loved one has been a victim of nursing home abuse or neglect, don’t let them continue suffering silently. Contact experienced nursing home abuse lawyers in Kansas City for legal counsel.
Financial Abuse
Some staff members in nursing homes may try to take advantage of the trust seniors accord them. They often abuse the seniors financially through:
- Stealing
- Forgery
- Coercing seniors to create unauthorized powers of attorneys or wills in their favor
- Not consulting with a senior’s guardian or conservator
If you notice the following signs, your loved one could be a victim of financial abuse in a nursing home:
- Suspicious or significantly high bank withdrawals
- Loss of treasured possessions
- Unexplained addition of unfamiliar names, usually of a staff member, on the senior’s financial accounts
- A report of financial abuse by the senior
- Unpaid bills
- Unusual interest by relatives who had no or little contact with the senior before
Sexual Abuse
Sexual abuse involves a non-consensual sexual person with a senior. The act can include:
- Coerced nudity
- Sexual assault
- Rape
- Sodomy
- Unwanted touching
- Exposure to sexually explicit materials
Signs and symptoms include stained undergarments, bruising and bleeding around the genitals, breast, or anal area, and genital infections. The senior may also report firsthand the incidents of abuse. Don’t let cases of nursing home abuse go unreported. Your senior loved one deserves care and protection; a skilled nursing home abuse lawyer can help you achieve that.
What If I Wrongfully Lost My Senior Loved One Due to Nursing Home Abuse?
A senior can die from nursing home abuse or neglect in worst-case scenarios. It can be agonizing to know they would have lived longer had they received proper care from the nursing home staff.
When residents die because of negligence in the nursing home, it may be considered wrongful death.
A nursing home wrongful death could happen when a care facility:
- Fails to provide adequate nutrition, leading to malnutrition or dehydration
- Doesn’t take action to prevent deadly falls
- Doesn’t take action to prevent or stop non-resident violence
- Makes medication errors
- Doesn’t treat medical conditions like sepsis
- Physically injures or abuses residents
It is essential to know what to do if your loved one suffers a wrongful death in a nursing home. One of the best options is to connect with a personal injury law firm in Kansas City to pursue justice and compensation for the damages.
Damages Available in a Nursing Home Wrongful Death Claim
A wrongful death lawsuit can help a family get compensation to pay for unpaid bills and funeral expenses. It can also be the means to hold a nursing home responsible for a death it should have prevented and make it improve its level of care so that other residents stay safe.
Compensation available in wrongful death claims includes:
- Medical bills arising from the home’s negligence
- Funeral expenses
- Loss of consortium
- Pain and suffering
- Punitive damages
How Can I Report Nursing Home Abuse in Kansas City?
Seniors subjected to nursing home abuse may be too scared to say anything about their experiences for fear of retaliation by the abusers. It’s often up to the family members to notice something wrong and report their suspicions to the relevant authorities.
If you suspect your loved one is a victim of nursing home abuse, take the following steps:
- Contact the National Center for Elder Abuse for steps on how to report your suspicions
- Call 911
- Collect all the evidence you can, such as medical records or clothes your loved one was wearing.
- Answer any questions asked by the authorities.
- Contact skilled nursing home abuse attorneys in Kansas City for legal counsel or if you need to remain anonymous when reporting nursing home abuse
Defending Your Loved One Today Against Nursing Home Abuse
Do you suspect that your loved one suffered nursing home abuse and neglect in Kansas City? You should seek the help of skilled lawyers from a reputable personal injury law firm in Kansas City, MO. They can evaluate the case and help you seek answers, compensation, and the justice your loved one deserves.
Our law firm can help you recover the maximum compensation your loved one is entitled to due to being subjected to nursing home abuse. Trust us to handle your case. Call Mohlman Gurney Injury Law at 816-648-6000 to fight for your loved one.