Cincinnati Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer
Cincinnati Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Overview
Moving a loved one into long term care is an emotional decision for everyone. But it’s important to remember that you’re doing this because it’s in your loved one’s best interest and will provide a higher quality of life. Sometimes, their home doesn’t take care of them the way that you would expect. If this happens, a nursing home abuse lawyer can help.
A Cincinnati nursing home abuse lawyer from Bey & Associates will work tirelessly on behalf of you and your loved one. Your focus can return to your loved one instead of worrying about making your claim on your own. We will do everything to get your loved one the compensation they deserve.
Breaking Down the Types of Nursing Home Abuse
Nursing home abuse takes many forms. Abuse can come from nurses who don’t treat their residents with care and respect, those who actively seek to harm their residents, or people who don’t have enough time to give each resident the attention and patience that they need.
The different kinds of abuse are equally damaging and terrible for elders to go through. Some types of nursing home abuse are:
- This involves actions like hitting, slapping, and pushing.
- This abuse is just as serious and impactful as physical. Nurses can insult, berate, yell, or threaten their residents. But emotional damage is also done when nurses ignore their residents or prevent them from seeing family and friends, too.
- When seniors are victims of sexual abuse, they forced to be a part of or witness sexual acts
- Sometimes, nurses either don’t or can’t attend to their resident’s needs. Nursing home neglect is more common in homes that have staffing issues. When there aren’t enough people working, the staff is often overworked. They might not be able to focus on your loved one because they’re worried about an entire floor of residents.
Whether a nurse is handling your loved one too roughly or ignoring their concerns, residents’ health and wellbeing are put at risk. Their quality of life is threatened and it’s not fair for them to suffer because someone else is an inadequate caregiver.
What Are the Signs of Nursing Home Abuse and Negligence?
Because there are different types of nursing home abuse, some have correlating signs that go with them. When visiting your loved one in a nursing home, keep an eye out for injuries or behaviors that could indicate that abuse could be happening.
- Look for uncommon bruising, welts, or broken bones. Other forms of physical abuse can be related to head injuries, lack of dental care, and malnutrition.
- Signs of psychological abuse include having depression, emotional distress, and odd changes in mood.
- Some people take financial advantage of seniors who have trouble with remembering events or keeping facts straight. They can deplete funds and others have to rely more heavily on programs like Medicaid.
- Keeping residents from socially engaging with other residents or visitors will make the resident isolated and withdrawn.
If you’re suspicious of nursing home abuse or want to keep a more watchful eye on your loved one and their home, you may worry about staff thinking that you’re looking for a problem. When visiting your loved one, take the opportunity to talk to other long-term residents and their families. Ask how they like the home and how their loved one likes living there. You can also speak to the regular nurses who take care of your loved one to get a sense of the daily routine and who sees your loved one on a daily basis.
Other ways to assess the quality of the nursing home is tasting the food and seeing what they’re serving. A quality nursing home will provide healthy and delicious meals. And if you get a chance, look for a community calendar or ask about the social activities and events that are available. They should provide plenty of opportunities for seniors to cultivate thriving social lives and regular exercise.
Ohio Senior Citizens Rights in Nursing Homes
Ohio has strict and clear nursing home abuse laws. The residents have rights that are supposed to protect them from harm and abuse. If you have a your loved one in a nursing home, read these rights so you know what your loved one is entitled to by law.
- Sanitary and Safe Environment. Seniors’ living environments need to meet the standards of programs like Medicare and Medicaid, the state laws, and the director of health.
- Freedom from Abuse of Any Kind. Seniors’ rights also include that people are to treat them with respect and dignity.
- Medical Treatment. No matter the race, religion, age, seniors have the right to their medical treatment.
- Responses to Reasonable Requests. When seniors ask a question or make a request, they should receive a swift response and know that their concerns are being heard.
- Fresh Clothes and Bedsheets. Seniors clothes and bedsheets should be clean and changed on a regular basis.
- Knowledge of Caretakers and Nurses. Seniors have the right to know who is taking care of them and what their specialty is. They can get this information upon request.
Seniors’ rights have high standards to ensure they receive the quality care they need. When people violate these rights, they need to be held accountable for their actions.
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