Nursing Home Abuse: How Do You Know?

Nursing home abuse is a serious issue across the country. Some family members and other loved ones discover the abuse of nursing home or assisted living facility residents during visitations or upon hearing details from their senior loved one.

Several sources point to data and other evidence of increasing incidents of nursing home abuse, including at facilities in Florida. Learn about nursing home abuse, the warning signs of potential abuse or neglect, and the damage experienced by victims.

The Florida Statutes Chapter 429.28 Resident Bill of Rights specifically states that every resident of a facility has the right to “Live in a safe environment, free from abuse and neglect” and “Be treated with consideration and respect with due recognition of personal dignity, individuality, and the need for privacy.” Yet nursing home abuse and neglect often thrive despite these legal protections.

How do you know if nursing home abuse exists? Read about these six warning signs:

• Patient has poor personal hygiene because nursing home staff failed to make sure each resident is properly dressed in clean clothes, bathes properly, has their teeth brushed or dentures cleaned, and has their hair combed and nails clipped.
• Unsanitary living conditions occur when nursing home staff fails to properly provide the safe, sanitary, comfortable environment for residents that federal law requires.
• Lack of nutrition often shows as dehydration and malnutrition. According to the National Institutes of Health, researchers discovered that approximately 20 percent of nursing home residents experience malnutrition.
• Lack of mobility occurs when nursing home staff fails to make sure residents move around to help prevent bedsores, infections and loss of mobility.
• Injuries occur as a direct result of nursing home abuse or neglect when staff physically abuse residents, resulting in unexplained bruises, broken bones or other injuries. Falls and other incidents account for some injuries. Sexual assaults also occur in nursing homes.
• Psychological damage from nursing home abuse potentially causes new fears and depression in residents.

Attorney John Leighton represents victims of nursing home abuse and their families. Examples include Mr. Leighton and Max Panoff filing the first lawsuit after the 14 deaths at Hollywood Hills nursing home following Hurricane Irma.

Mr. Leighton has a successful record of winning recoveries for victims of abuse and neglect, and for families of loved ones who died because of nursing home abuse or neglect.