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Nursing home abuse includes physical, mental, and emotional abuse, neglect, and more. Nursing homes owe extensive and specific duties to their residents, but too often they fail to live up to those duties and residents suffer permanent harm or die in these facilities. Those who perpetrate nursing home abuse and neglect can face criminal and civil penalties. Victims and their loved ones may be entitled to substantial monetary compensation.
Types of Nursing Home Abuse Claims
Nursing home abuse includes:
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Neglect
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Physical abuse
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Mental and emotional abuse
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Sexual abuse and exploitation
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Financial exploitation
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Chemical restraints
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Physical restraints
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Attacks by other residents
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Theft
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Failure to provide proper medical care
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Medication errors
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Bedsores and infections
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Failure to provide social and physical activities
Nursing Home Responsibility
Individual nursing home employees who abuse residents can face stiff penalties, including criminal prosecution, but in most cases the ultimate responsibility lies with the nursing home itself.
While there are a few cruel and evil people who take jobs in nursing homes with the intent to do harm, the majority of nursing home neglect and abuse is the result of problems with the home itself including:
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Understaffing
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Poor screening and hiring practices
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Failure to monitor employees
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Hiring undertrained or under-skilled workers at a lower wage
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Ratio of residents to qualified staff members is too high
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Hours for staff members are too long
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Poor security
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Inadequate specialized staff members such as dieticians, nurses, counselors, and social workers
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Unsanitary conditions
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Poor record keeping leading to medical and medication errors
California Nursing Home Injuries
Sometimes it is easy to mistake the injuries, health problems, and mental decline caused by neglect or abuse with those which can occur naturally with old age. Nursing home residents are often unable to complain or too afraid. When they do, they are not always taken seriously.
Nursing home injuries which are often the result of neglect and abuse include:
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Malnutrition and weight loss
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Dehydration
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Bedsores
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Infections and sepsis
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Falls
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Fractures and broken bones
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Head or brain injuries
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Cuts, burns, and bruises
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Choking or aspirating
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Dementia
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Elopement/wandering off
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Sunburn
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Head injuries
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Dental problems
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Missing items
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Depression
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Withdrawal
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Sudden decline in physical health
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Sudden decline in mental health
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Urinary tract infections
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Sexual transmitted disease (STD)
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Pregnancy in younger residents
Mental and Emotional Abuse
Mental and emotional abuse can be very difficult to spot in a nursing home, and it can be just as harmful and dangerous as physical abuse. Isolation, threats, insults, sexual harassment, and other forms of mental abuse can cause very real health problems leasing to death.