What Qualifies As Nursing Home Negligence?

Many things can qualify as nursing home abuse or neglect. Anything that violates what is referred to as the Nursing Home Residents Bill of Rights (Florida Statutes 400.022) could be considered abusive or negligent towards an elderly individual in a nursing home. Florida law protects those in nursing homes from incurring unreasonable civil, personal, and religious restraints. Per recent statistics, as many as 44% of nursing home patients have been subject to abuse in some form. Even more alarming is the estimation that less than 1 in 14 abuse instances are actually properly reported.

What Are The Common Types Of Abuse Or Neglect You See In These Cases?

Some common examples of nursing home abuse or neglect are the withholding of food and/or water, neglecting the hygiene and grooming of the patient, providing inadequate bathroom facilities, giving the wrong or not enough medications, and certain types of violent or even sexually based abuse by staff members.

What Are Common Types Of Injuries Sustained In These Cases?

Because nursing home patients are often too sick or old to fully understand and communicate the abuse being bestowed onto them, oftentimes injuries will occur because of the abuse before the negligence is ever recognized and addressed. Common types of ailments that can be the result of nursing home abuse and negligence are dehydration, malnutrition, starvation, unexplained cuts and bruises, infections, bone fractures and falls, the development of bedsores, complications from not taking the right or enough medications, and psychological abnormalities due to the mistreatment. These are often preventable injuries and occurrences that can cause problems and lead to nursing home negligence cases.

Who Can Potentially Be Held Liable In A Nursing Home Negligence Case?

Oftentimes, the nursing home facility itself is found to be liable in abuse and neglect cases, as they owe a certain standard of “duty of care” to its patients. However, that isn’t always the case. There are times when a certain staff member could be held responsible, or even a third party. For example, sometimes the companies who manufactured certain equipment could be found at fault, if say a wheelchair was manufactured improperly and a nursing home patient was injured as a result of the unsafety of the wheelchair they used.

How Important Is The Evidence And Are Witnesses In These Cases?

Witnesses and evidence is vital in any civil suit, and nursing home abuse and negligence cases are no different. The burden of proof in these cases is on the individual who was allegedly abused, and evidence and witnesses play an important role in establishing this proof. Family members of the victim may also play a great role in giving a statement as to how available the staff members were, what they witnessed on visits to the nursing home, how willing the staff were to help, etc.

For more information on Nursing Home Negligence In Florida, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling 800-835-5762 & 954-456-2488 today.

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