Summit County Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer

One of the best ways to prevent nursing home abuse and detect it quickly if it does happen is to be as involved with your loved one as possible. Visit as often as you can, and try to do so at random times.

If the facility’s staff members know that you only visit from 2-4 PM every Sunday, they’ll know to be extra nice to Grandma during those two hours. The rest of the time? They’ll know that no one will be around to check up on them.

Of course, it’s not always possible to see your loved ones as much as you’d like, especially if you don’t live close to the facility. If you can’t visit frequently, consider enlisting other family members or friends to drop in on your relatives randomly and often.

This lets the facility’s staff know that their patient has a large and involved family who show up unpredictably, so they will need to be on their best behavior all the time.

While this strategy reduces the risk of abuse, it’s still possible your relative could be mistreated when no one is around, so here are some warning signs to look out for:

• Unexplained injuries. These include broken bones, sprains, dislocations, bruises, or lacerations. If you notice new injuries, try to find out what happened, but avoid accusing the staff of wrongdoing. Ask if there’s anything you can do to help prevent future injuries, such as bringing non-slip socks or a mobility device. Be wary if the explanation you receive is vague or doesn’t really answer the question of what happened. For instance, if you ask how your uncle broke his wrist and a staff member shrugs and says, “Senior citizens have brittle bones,” you might not be getting the full story. Yes, brittle bones are common in older adults, but they still indicate the person had an injury. Additionally, nursing home facilities have multiple protocols to help prevent these kinds of injuries precisely because older people are more vulnerable to broken bones.
• Your family member doesn’t seem to be properly medicated. If you notice signs they aren’t taking their medication, the staff may have neglected to give them the correct dose on time. Another issue might be if the patient always seems to be heavily sedated with no apparent reason why.
• Marks around the wrists and ankles, which might indicate the patient was restrained. There are some legitimate uses of restraints in hospitals and care facilities, but in other cases, the patient is restrained merely for the staff’s convenience. If you notice signs of restraint use, ask why your relative was restrained and if they have any new health concerns you should know about.
• Broken eyeglasses, hearing aids, or mobility devices. Another unpleasant situation that sometimes occurs is when a staff member breaks or hides a patient’s mobility device to “punish” them or keep them from moving around the facility.
• Odd behavior from a caregiver. If a nurse, orderly, or other caregiver doesn’t want to leave you alone with your loved one, seems to be rushing you to leave, or otherwise acts like they don’t want you around, you might have cause for concern.
• Changes in your loved one’s behavior. If they seem withdrawn, fearful, or just not their usual self, they might be reacting to an abusive situation. However, sometimes health problems can also cause behavioral or personality changes, so a checkup may be in order.
• Bedsores. These occur when a patient with health issues spends most or all of their time in bed, which puts pressure on various areas of the body. Bedsores can be prevented by a healthcare worker turning or moving the patient regularly, so if a family member has bedsores, this is often a sign of neglect.
• Other indications of neglect. If you notice your family member appears dirty or ungroomed, if their clothes aren’t changed daily, or if other hygiene issues exist, the patient may not be getting the care they need.
• Sudden changes in financial situation. Not all abuse is physical – financial abuse is also common in care facilities. If you notice your loved one suddenly has money problems when they were doing all right before, there may be a problem. Other signs include missing money or valuables from your family member’s room, sudden changes to add a beneficiary to an insurance policy, adding someone to their bank accounts, etc.