
Unable to care for themselves due to age or illness, many people, together with their families, make the decision to move into a nursing home in order to get the type of care and assistance they need. Sometimes nursing homes fail to provide the attention and level of treatment that they are supposed to, and in some tragic cases residents can fall victim to physical and psychological abuse while in the nursing home.
Because nursing home residents are some of society’s most vulnerable individuals, they can be easy targets for abuse and neglect. It is often hard for them to speak up about the mistreatment, either because they are too ill or because they are embarrassed or don’t want to get anyone in trouble. That means it’s very important for their family members and other loved ones to keep close tabs on them and serve as advocates when something goes wrong.
If your loved one has suffered abuse or neglect while living in a South Carolina nursing home, our personal injury attorneys at Joye Law Firm can help you protect them and recover the compensation they deserve.
About Nursing Home Abuse in South Carolina
South Carolina is home to nearly 200 nursing homes and thousands of nursing home residents, according to figures from S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.
Federal statistics show that a quarter of all nursing homes nationwide are cited each year for causing a resident’s death or injury.
It is very difficult to know the true number of nursing home neglect and abuse cases, because many if not most instances go unreported. One thing is clear — the problem is likely to get worse as the number of nursing home residents increases as the American population ages. The federal government estimates that the number of nursing home residents will increase from 1.6 million today to 6.6 million 40 years from now.
Abuse and neglect in nursing homes are shockingly common, according to figures from the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA). In a survey of 2,000 nursing home residents, 44 percent reported that they had been abused and 95 percent reported that they had been neglected or seen other residents be neglected, according to the NCEA.
In another study cited by the NCEA, over half of nursing home staff members admitted that they had mistreated residents in the past year. Mistreatment included actions such as physical violence, mental abuse and neglect. Another survey revealed that 17 percent of certified nursing assistants said they had pushed, grabbed or shoved a nursing home resident.