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How Do I Prove Nursing Home Negligence?
You do not have to prove nursing home negligence, as an attorney will do it for you. Experienced nursing home negligence can prove your loved one was mistreated using your loved one’s account of neglect, mistreatment, or other failures. An attorney will also secure witness accounts, relevant video footage, expert testimony, and any other available evidence proving the home’s negligence.
Nursing homes toe the line between a residence and a medical facility. This can make proving negligence complex, and you should allow an experienced legal professional to lead your case. Your loved one deserves justice, and your nursing home negligence lawyer will work to ensure justice is served.
Common Types of Nursing Home Negligence That Warrant a Lawsuit
Every nursing home faces a lofty duty of care. This duty of care requires the nursing home’s ownership, administrators, and employees to take every reasonable measure to protect residents and visitors. When a nursing home fails in this duty, it commits negligence that exposes the home to insurance claims and lawsuits.
Some of the most common (and immensely harmful) forms of nursing home negligence include:
Physical Abuse
About one in six elders living in a community setting, including nursing homes, suffered some form of abuse in the past year. Physical abuse is among the most common types of mistreatment, as caregivers can be frustrated by the challenges of their job or unsuited personality-wise for the demands of caregiving.
Examples of physical abuse include:
- Slapping
- Yanking and pulling
- Punching
- Pinching
- Burning
- Shoving
Anything but compassionate, professional handling of residents qualifies as physical mistreatment. Such abuse is a clear reason to sue the nursing home.
Psychological and Emotional Abuse
Psychological and emotional abuse does not leave physical scars, but these types of mistreatment can be just as damaging as physical blows. Some examples of emotional and psychological abuse include:
- Calling names
- Demeaning the elder
- Intentionally scaring
- Threatening
- Leaving the elder isolated in ways that cause anxiety or fear
- Speaking to the elder in inappropriate tones
Any interaction (or lack of interaction) that causes adverse emotions or psychological states can qualify as psychological or emotional mistreatment. Your nursing home injury attorney may hire an expert to confirm such mistreatment and explain why the liable parties’ actions qualify as abuse.
Sexual Abuse
Those living in nursing homes are often vulnerable. As disturbing as it is, predators prey on the vulnerable for sexual gratification and such abuse can include:
- Touching the victim in inappropriate and unwanted ways
- Handling the victim in a manner that results in contact with their genitals
- Intentional sexual violation of the victim
- Forcing the victim to commit acts against their will
For most, it is unfathomable that anyone would treat their loved one in such an inhumane way. However, you must recognize that these heinous forms of abuse do occur and act on any possible warning signs you encounter.
Neglect
Neglect is one of the most common forms of mistreatment in nursing homes. Caregivers may justify neglect because it is a passive form of mistreatment, but you should take neglect just as seriously as active abuse.
Examples of neglect in a nursing home setting include:
- Failing to administer medications as prescribed
- Failing to bathe the victim regularly
- Failing to brush the victim’s teeth, comb their hair, and provide other forms of hygienic care
- Failing to rotate the elder in their bed. This can lead to bedsores, infections, and other serious health problems
- Failing to help the elder consume food and liquids
- Failing to monitor and assist the elder in getting from place to place
Neglect can cause immediate harm, like falls and bedsores. Neglect can also accelerate the aging process, as neglectful care often leads to victims being isolated and intellectually unstimulated.
Unsanitary Conditions
If a nursing home is unsanitary, residents and visitors face the risk of infection and other health complications. Nursing homes must actively identify and remove health hazards, respond urgently to outbreaks (like staph infections), and hire cleaning professionals to ensure the home is clean and sanitary at all times.
Unsafe Conditions
Some of the hazards that nursing homes must actively prevent include:
- Tripping hazards like torn carpet, uneven stairs, and general clutter
- Slipping hazards like condensation buildup, spills, and flooring that is likely to become slick if spills occur or someone tracks in water on their shoes
- Exposed features that can cause burns
- Sharp items and defects that could foreseeably lead to injury
- Falling items
If any foreseeable hazard exists in the nursing home, owners, administrators, and other employees have a duty to identify and remedy the hazard as soon as possible.
Lack of Security
When you entrust your loved one to a nursing home, you expect that:
- Dedicated security professionals will be on the premises at all times
- The home will have a robust system for ensuring employees act responsibly, unwanted visitors cannot enter the premises, and residents cannot leave without permission
- The home will have adequate lighting, security cameras, and other security-related features
- Exits will have effective locks that prevent your loved one from leaving without permission
If any security-related failures caused your loved one to suffer harm, you have grounds to file a claim or lawsuit against the nursing home.
Financial Exploitation and Fraud
If any nursing home employee engages in unethical financial activity affecting you or your loved one, the home itself can be liable. If someone else within the home (like another resident) exploits your loved one, the home may also be liable for failing to prevent such exploitation.
There are many more ways that a nursing home’s owners and employees can fail in their duty of care. If you suspect that the nursing home fell short of its responsibilities in any way, speak with a nursing home injury lawyer as soon as possible.
Possible Signs Your Loved One Has Suffered Abuse or Exploitation
You may see physical, psychological, emotional, personality-related, or financial changes that are legitimate cause for alarm. Some of the potential signs of elder mistreatment include:
- Physical injuries related to direct abuse
- Bedsores and other injuries that could result from neglect
- Changes in personality that could suggest abuse or neglect
- Financial abnormalities that cannot be explained (aside from fraud or exploitation)
- One or more infections
- Accidents like falls
You may also observe when you visit your loved ones that they are often alone, unsupervised, and not receiving the level of care they deserve. If you have any reason to suspect neglect, abuse, exploitation, or general unsafety in the nursing home, further investigation is necessary.
Allow a nursing home injury lawyer to thoroughly investigate the nursing home, get to the bottom of your loved one’s circumstances, and pursue any financial recovery your loved one is entitled to.
Ways a Nursing Home Injury Attorney Can Prove Negligence
If your loved one has been the victim of any type of mistreatment, a nursing home injury attorney can work to prove it. Some ways that attorneys prove nursing home neglect, abuse, and exploitation include:
- Interviewing witnesses: Witnesses in nursing home negligence cases can include other residents, employees, administrators, and the victim. Those employed by the nursing home may refuse to testify, and your attorney may take legal steps to compel them to do so.
- Hiring experts: Experts in elder mistreatment may provide convincing testimony that your loved one suffered abuse, neglect, or exploitation. These experts may have a background in caregiving, nursing home administration, and other relevant fields.
- Obtaining relevant photographs and video: Your lawyer may directly document conditions or events that led your loved one to suffer harm. For instance, a video of a caregiver striking a resident would be clear and convincing evidence of abuse. Photographs of tripping hazards could be relevant if a resident suffered injuries during a fall.
- Obtaining incident reports: Nursing homes often have to document harmful events that happen on their premises. Your attorney will secure a copy of any such incident or police reports related to the case.
- Speaking with the victim: Your loved one’s lived experience will be a key piece of the case. If they can articulate neglect, abuse, or exploitation, this will be helpful to any lawsuit or insurance claim you pursue.
Evidence is different in every case. Your attorney will take legal action to obtain evidence from the nursing home, which may include internal security videos and testimony from employees. Your lawyer will strive urgently to build the most compelling case possible. Don’t wait to hire your attorney so they can secure such evidence right away.
More Duties a Nursing Home Injury Attorney Will Perform for You
In addition to proving that the nursing home was negligent in its treatment of your loved one, your nursing home injury lawyer will:
Deal with Insurance Companies, Nursing Homes, and Civil Defense Lawyers
Victims of nursing homes’ negligence (and their loved ones) often have little time to spare. They have lives, and handling an insurance claim or lawsuit is not typically feasible.
Your lawyer will handle all case-related communications. In addition to protecting your time, this will ensure no liable party can talk you into accepting a lowball settlement or violate your rights in other ways.
Document the Victim’s Negligence-Related Damages
An attorney will prove the harm the victim suffered because of the nursing home’s negligence. The nature of the negligence and the victim’s unique circumstances will dictate the stable of relevant documentation, which may include:
- Medical records detailing abuse- or neglect-related injuries
- Medical images of injuries
- A mental health expert’s explanation of how abuse or neglect has affected the victim
- Any financial records that suggest fraud or exploitation
If your loved one decides to leave a nursing home where mistreatment occurred, your attorney will also document moving-related costs. The negligent nursing home should have to cover such expenses.
Calculate the Precise Financial Value of the Claim or Lawsuit
The primary goal of any insurance claim or lawsuit is securing fair compensation for the claimant or plaintiff. Your attorney will consider all of the victim’s economic and non-economic damages to calculate a fair case value.
Negotiate a Settlement with Those You Are Seeking Compensation From
Once your attorney knows the accurate value of the claim or lawsuit, they’ll negotiate. It’s likely that liable parties attempt to pay as little compensation as possible, so your lawyer will:
- Lay out evidence of the nursing home’s negligence
- Provide documentation of the victim’s economic and non-economic damages
- Explain the calculation of their settlement demands
- Directly address any counter arguments liable parties make
Liable parties may claim that no negligence occurred, that your lawyer is overestimating the value of damages, or that certain damages are not related to the nursing home’s negligence. An experienced attorney will be ready for and respond appropriately to such claims.
Handle Any Lawsuit, Trial, or Other Demands Your Case Requires
If you and your attorney decide to sue the nursing home or other liable parties, your lawyer will lead the legal process. This process may eventually lead to trial, for which your attorney will be prepared.
Recoverable Damages Victims of Nursing Home Negligence Face
When nursing homes fail in their duty of care, victims suffer immensely. Some of the most common damages in nursing home negligence cases include:
- Medical expenses
- Rehabilitation costs
- Relocation costs
- Pain and suffering
- Mental health treatment costs
- Financial losses due to fraud or exploitation
Your lawyer will personally investigate your loved one’s damages. They will determine the exact financial value of each damage and demand equivalent compensation from liable parties.
If your loved one passed away in circumstances related to nursing home negligence, a lawyer can also demand justice for the tragedy of a wrongful death.
Hiring an Attorney Requires No Direct Financial Commitment from You
Nursing home injury lawyers typically ask for no upfront or out-of-pocket compensation from their clients. This means you can retain legal help without committing a dollar of your own money.
Your lawyer will hire qualified experts, pay filing fees, and cover any other case-related costs. They will only get their fee if they secure compensation for you (or your loved one). Don’t wait to speak with prospective law firms and hire your personal injury attorney today.