Many nursing homes provide responsible and compassionate care for individuals who are too ill or frail to live alone or with family. Unfortunately, not every facility provides the same level of attention or care. When residents of nursing homes show warning signs of abuse or neglect, loved ones must take action. The South Carolina nursing home abuse attorneys of Joye Law Firm can help.
For more than five decades, our legal team has been fighting on behalf of nursing home abuse victims and their families to secure financial recovery and justice. Contact us today for a free case review with our South Carolina nursing home abuse attorneys. We will discuss what you can do when you’ve seen warning signs of abuse and neglect in a loved one who lives in a nursing home.
With law offices in Charleston, Myrtle Beach, Columbia, and Clinton, we have a long track record of holding nursing homes accountable throughout South Carolina.
Types of Abuse and Neglect
Although nursing home abuse and neglect are often talked about together, they each represent distinct types of harm:
- Abuse refers to the intentional infliction of injury, intimidation, deprivation of care, punishment, financial malfeasance, or unreasonable confinement that causes physical harm or pain or mental or emotional injury.
- Neglect occurs either from the failure to provide a dependent or vulnerable person with the care needed to ensure the individual remains free from harm or from the failure to react to situations that may potentially result in harm.
Examples of nursing home physical abuse and neglect can include:
- Physical assault, such as punching, beating, slapping, kicking, pinching, pushing, shaking, or dragging
- Threats of physical violence
- Deprivation of food or water
- Failure to provide medical care
- Physical restraint, or unreasonable sedation or medication
- Rape, sexual assault, unwanted sexual touching, or sexual exploitation
- Intimidation
- Yelling, cursing, or belittling
- Failure to monitor
Understanding the Signs of Nursing Home Abuse
Of course, nursing home abuse can leave a victim with clear injuries and harm. However, it is critical for family members and friends of nursing home residents to understand that not all signs of abuse or neglect will be obvious. Many forms of abuse and neglect have more subtle signs that can go unnoticed for a long time.
Many victims of nursing home abuse or neglect lack an awareness of what is happening to them or the ability or willingness to reach out for help, often out of fear of continued or increased abuse. This makes it important for friends and family members to familiarize themselves with the signs of abuse and neglect.
Signs of Neglect
Common signs that a nursing home resident has been or is being neglected by staff include:
- Malnutrition
- Rapid weight loss
- Dehydration
- Bedsores/pressure ulcers
- Infections, particularly frequent infections or infections not promptly reported to the resident’s family and physician
- Poor personal hygiene
- Soiled clothing and bedding
- Inadequate or inappropriate clothing for the weather
- Unclean living areas
- Medication errors
- Unsafe living conditions, including lack of necessary climate control, lack of running water, slip/trip and fall hazards, and fire hazards
- Wandering/elopement