Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer – Serving Clients in Cleveland, Akron, Columbus, Canton, and Throughout Ohio
Nursing home abuse is abhorrent.
Those who are abused typically are defenseless; often because of mental disease, physical incapacity, or both.
As a Cleveland, Ohio nursing home abuse lawyer, I and my firm are committed to ending abuse, and gaining a measure of justice for the victims and their families. We demand full accountability from those facilities that allow staff to perpetrate abuse on residents. Not only is such abuse wrong, but it is often illegal.
Taking on Corporate Nursing Homes
There currently are approximately 1.7 million licensed beds at more than 16,000 nursing homes in the United States. Many of the larger nursing home corporations own hundreds of nursing home facilities. When their staff commit nursing home abuse, they would like the families of the victims to feel powerless.
This is not the case at my firm.
I sue nursing homes located throughout Ohio as a nursing home abuse attorney. On behalf of injured residents and their families, we seek full and fair compensation from those responsible. If a resident has died, I will sue for a nursing home wrongful death.
With more than 30 years as a nursing home abuse attorney and neglect lawyer, I and my firm have the experience and resources to take on nursing home facilities and nursing home corporations of all sizes.
Ohio Troubled Nursing Homes – The Special Focus Facility and Special Focus Facility List
US Nursing homes are subject to periodic government inspections, and the results of such inspections are included in the US government’s Nursing Home Compare Website. On this website, anyone can see the results of recent and past inspections, as well as the over-all ratings assigned to nursing homes based upon their performance.
The federal government now includes troubled nursing homes in a program called the Special Focus Facility program, which subjects program nursing homes to greater scrutiny and the possibility of losing federal funding. Nursing homes that are in danger of being included in this list are referred to as “Special Focus Facility Candidates;” these homes also have a poor record.
To learn about the Ohio nursing homes that have recently been named to the Special Focus Facility program or named as Special Focus Facility Candidates, please click here.
Nursing Homes and Our Aging Population
There is probably no more difficult decision for any family to make than to have to place a loved one in a nursing home. It’s tough to trust strangers to care for your family member. Nursing negligence and nursing home abuse is a frightening concept for families who depend on a skilled nursing facility to care for their loved ones.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2014 more than 1.4 million Americans lived in one of America’s nursing homes. Nearly one million more lived in an assisted living facility. This number is only expected to grow as the large baby boomer population ages. Statistically, if the percentage of nursing home abuse and neglect remains constant, the number of nursing home abuse and neglect victims will also increase dramatically.
What Constitutes Nursing Home Abuse?
The federal regulations governing nursing homes define abuse as “the willful infliction of injury, unreasonable confinement, intimidation, or punishment with resulting physical harm, pain or mental anguish.” These regulations also state, “The resident has the right to be free from verbal, sexual, physical, and mental abuse, corporal punishment, and involuntary seclusion.” This definition only begins to include the various types of abuse that have been identified in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.
Nursing Home Abuse Statistics – How Frequently Does Nursing Home Abuse Occur?
Unfortunately, abuse among nursing home residents is high. In fact, an article published by Reuters in 2013 suggested that as many as 50 percent of all staff members of a nursing home had committed some act toward a patient that could be considered neglect or abuse. Because residents are often isolated from friends and family, there is reason to believe that the actual number of incidents of abuse are higher than the number actually reported.
The Different Types of Nursing Home Abuse
Reporting incidents of elder abuse to local enforcement agencies is also important. An official report ensures your case is followed up on by someone who has experience identifying potential problems in nursing homes and other nursing facilities.
It is important for you to keep an eye on your loved ones in case they show any signs of elder abuse or neglect. Neglect, or lack of care, is as important to identify as actual abuse since a lack of medical attention can be very serious to the health of your loved one. Unfortunately, lack of physical or emotional attention can also be a precursor to other types of abuse including:
- Physical abuse and Nursing Home Assault: Caretakers cause direct pain or injury by depriving residents of their basic needs or threatening them with physical abuse or pain. Physical abuse can also consist of physical or chemical restraints. Not only can assault be committed by nursing home staff, it can also be committed by other residents.
- Emotional abuse: Caretakers commit verbal or nonverbal abuse, which can lead to emotional distress, anguish, and humiliation
- Sexual abuse: Residents suffer through unwanted sexual contact or are forced to witness a sexual act.
- Neglect and abandonment: Caretakers desert or refuse basic care to residents.
- Exploitation: Caretakers or nursing home staff conceal or use a resident’s assets inappropriately. In addition, a new form of exploitation has emerged – exploitation through social media. In these instances, nursing home caretakers may take compromising images or video of nursing home residents and upload images and video online.
Signs of Nursing Home Abuse
Some of the signs you should watch for include:
- unexplained bruises or bleeding,
- new wounds (particularly bedsores),
- burns
- abrasions,
- psychological changes that could indicate there is some type of abuse going on,
- unexpected listlessness,
- unusual behavior, such as infantile behavior,
- emotional withdrawal, or
- unexplained outbursts of anger or crying.
Other nursing negligence signs you should watch for might not be as readily evident. These clues include the loss of personal belongings including jewelry, wallets, or other valuables.
Don’t just pay attention to your loved one—staff behavior can change too. Look out for staff who stall you when you are trying to visit, hang around your loved one’s room when you are visiting, or refuse to answer routine questions. Any one of these could be signs of a problem that should warrant your attention.
What Should You Do if Nursing Home Abuse or Neglect is Suspected?
If you have identified nursing negligence or suspect abuse of a loved one in a nursing home or other skilled care facility, contact an administrator and report the problem. Then consider contacting a nursing home abuse and neglect attorney. Even if the facility management or administration agrees to follow up and get back to you, being in contact with an attorney can also be helpful to protect your loved one’s rights.
As an attorney for nursing home abuse, if you contact me, I can provide direction in terms of other action that should be promptly taken, which may include contacting the police and/or documenting your loved one’s injuries and the circumstances surrounding their harm. There is no charge or obligation for contacting me,
Call for a Free Consultation – Protect Your Loved One
If your loved one’s injuries develop into a legal case, please know that I and my firm represent nursing home abuse and neglect cases on a contingency fee basis, meaning that there is no fee unless a recover it obtained.
When care falls short and results in life-threatening injury, abuse, or wrongful death, the injured and their families need a strong advocate. I and my firm are committed to making a difference by holding corporations accountable for providing essential care, supervision, and safety to nursing home residents.
As a nursing home abuse law firm, we represent many types of nursing home and assisted living care abuse or neglect cases:
- Assisted living care
- Escape, elopement, and wandering
- Falls and unexplained fractures
- Malnutrition and dehydration
- Bedsores and pressure ulcers
- Physical abuse and assault
- Choking and strangulation
- Infection or bleeding
Client Review
As both a nurse and an attorney, Nancy is uniquely suited to help victims of nursing home abuse. She gets in-depth in her clients’ cases, leaving no stone unturned, and her sense of empathy for what her client’s and their families have gone through is what makes her stand head and shoulders above all others.
5 Star LinkedIn Review – S.H.