Do you suspect or know that your loved one is a victim of elder or nursing home abuse? Schedule a free case evaluation now. Knowing how to recognize signs of nursing home abuse is imperative for families entrusting the care of their loved ones to an assisted living facility.
Sadly, around one in six seniors aged 60 and older have experienced some form of elder abuse in community settings in the past year. Rates of abuse are considerably higher in long-term care facilities, with two in three staff admitting they've committed abuse against elders in the past year.
Elder abuse can lead to severe physical injury and psychological trauma. Consult a nursing home abuse attorney to help ensure your loved one is safe and hold their abusers accountable for their irrepressible behavior.
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What is Elder Abuse?
Elder abuse is the abuse of an older adult aged 60 and over. It is intentional harm or failure to act, causing or creating risks to older adults. Elder abusers can be strangers, family, friends, healthcare providers, and nursing home caregivers. A study analyzing the calls to the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA) Resource Line found that non-family medical caretakers are responsible for almost 13 percent of reported cases of abuse.
How to Recognize Signs of Nursing Home Abuse
Knowing how to recognize signs of nursing home abuse will help ensure your loved one is being properly cared for medically and legally. Older adults are more vulnerable and deserve sincere care and compassion when residing in assisted living facilities. Abuse is never okay. Signs of nursing home abuse fall into five categories: neglect and abandonment, physical, emotional, financial, and sexual abuse.
Signs of Nursing Home Neglect
Nursing home neglect is the failure to care for a resident in a manner that avoids harm and pain. It's also the failure to react to a potentially harmful situation. Standard examples of nursing home neglect include:
- Ignoring call bells or patient calls for help
- Lack of toileting or changing of disposable briefs
- Failing to feed and hydrate patients
- Failing to dress residents for suitable weather or temperatures
- Lack of bathing and other hygiene practices
- Unclean and unsafe living conditions (soiled linens, dirty clothing, bed bugs)
- Leaving an elder in care alone at a public location (abandonment)
- Lack of proper body positioning and repositioning (bedsores)
- Lack of assistance with walking
Neglect may or may not be intentional. For example, an improperly trained caregiver may not know how to provide proper elder care. If it is found that the nursing home facility failed to train their caregivers or ensure proper licensures when hiring, they may be held liable for your loved one's injuries and damages. Your nursing home abuse lawyer will investigate all potential parties.
Physical Signs of Nursing Home Abuse
While physical signs of abuse may seem more obvious, you still may need to know what to look for and where to look for it. Abusive caregivers will likely ensure they dress your loved one to cover or hide the evidence. Signs of physical nursing home abuse are as follows:
- Visible markings—bruising, red marks, welts, burns, or scarring on the body
- Broken eyeglasses—commonly occur when slapping or hitting a patient
- Signs of restraint—including marks from ties or straps around the wrist and ankles or remnants of duct tape
- Injuries—especially recurrent injuries such as falls, sprains, dislocations, and broken bones
When a caregiver or nursing home staff is abusive with a resident, they may make it impossible for you to spend time alone with your loved one. They will hover over or create reasons why they must be present during your visits.
Emotional Signs of Nursing Home Abuse
Mental abuse or psychological or emotional abuse is the second leading cause of reported elder abuse. It may involve yelling at or threatening, humiliating, mocking, insulting, or embarrassing patients.
It can also include nonverbal abuse, such as giving residents intimidating looks, terrorizing or treating the residents like a child, giving them silent treatment, and moving assistive devices from a resident's reach, like glasses, canes, or walkers. Warning signs of these abuses include:
- Withdrawing from social activities and interactions they once enjoyed
- Sudden personality changes, including anger outbursts, anxiety, and sadness or depression
- Apparent changes in eating and sleeping patterns, including weight changes
- Apparent fear or constant references to a certain caregiver, staff member, or resident
- Behaviors, such as nail-biting, teeth grinding, hair pulling, rocking back and forth, or regressive behaviors like thumb sucking
Mental abuse is difficult to prove and often goes unchecked. It can lead to long-term psychological effects. If you've identified signs of mental abuse, it is pertinent that you report it and contact a nursing home abuse attorney immediately.
Financial Signs of Nursing Home Abuse
The NCEA study found that financial abuse is the leading cause of elder abuse, with 55 percent of calls reporting it. Some signs that a loved one may be experiencing financial abuse are as follows:
- Unexplained withdrawals from bank accounts, large money transfers, new name authorizations to accounts or joint accounts
- Additional names being authorized on the bank or credit cards
- Disappearance of cash, property, jewelry, and other valuables
- Sudden changes to a loved one's insurance policies, will, or power of attorney
- Unusual service and subscription charges the resident didn't make
If you suspect financial abuse, you must report it to the appropriate authorities. These authorities may include the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the National Elder Fraud Hotline, the Social Security Administration (SSA), the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), and local police or sheriff departments. You should also speak to a nursing home abuse lawyer to protect your loved one's legal rights to recover their losses.
Sexual Signs of Nursing Home Abuse
Sexual abuse is another horrific abuse that occurs when a nursing home staff member forces unwanted sexual contact with a resident. Signs can include difficulty walking or sitting for long periods, painful urination, STDs and other infections, and increased agitation, anxiety, and new fears of specific caregivers.
Why You Need a Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer
Nursing home abuse is particularly heinous and requires quick action. A nursing home abuse attorney will thoroughly investigate your loved one's case with urgency and compassion. They also work on contingency, meaning there are no upfront or ongoing costs to retain their help with your loved one's safety and recover compensation for damages. Schedule a free case evaluation with a Winder personal injury lawyer today.