Placing a loved one in a nursing home is often one of the most difficult decisions a family makes regarding the long-term care of their loved one. You are trusting strangers to provide the care and support your loved one needs when you cannot care for your family member at home any longer. Unfortunately, thousands of nursing home residents each year suffer nursing home injuries that are the result of abuse.
If you believe your loved one’s nursing home injuries are the result of abuse, you can report the abuse to the authorities. Physical abuse is a crime. You can also file a complaint with the Louisiana Department of Health. The Governor’s Office of Elderly Affairs has a great deal of information on its website about protective and advocacy services. You can also contact our New Orleans nursing home injuries attorneys for help.
Signs of Physical Abuse in Nursing Homes
It can be difficult to tell if your loved one’s nursing home injuries are the result of abuse if your loved one cannot communicate or is too frightened to communicate. However, some of the signs below might indicate your family member is being physically abused in a nursing home.
- Unexplained injuries. Elderly individuals are at a higher risk for falls and other injuries. However, if the explanations do not make sense or the injuries are repeated, you may need to consult with a physician. Keeping an injury journal can help you track the frequency and patterns of nursing home injuries.
- Rapid or unexplained weight loss may indicate neglect.
- Frequent lacerations, cuts, and bruises.
- Bruises around the hands and ankles may indicate bindings to keep the person in bed.
- Bedsores can indicate neglect because staff members are not turning a patient or moving patient as often as required to prevent bedsores.
- Fear and anxiety, especially when staff members are present or when you leave the facility after a visit.
- Withdrawal, isolation, depression, and other changes in behavior.
- Staff members who excessively pull or push patients or yell at the patients.
- Burns or other sores that never seem to heal
- Sexually transmitted diseases, rectal bleeding, and vaginal bleeding may indicate sexual abuse. Bruising around the breasts and genitals may also be an indication of sexual abuse.
In addition to physical abuse, nursing home injuries could indicate other types of abuse. Abuse can take many forms, including physical, emotional, sexual, and financial abuse. Neglect and abandonment are also forms of abuse.
Filing a Nursing Home Injuries Lawsuit
Your loved one may be entitled to substantial compensation for injuries and damages. After you ensure you have stopped the abuse, you may want to consider a lawsuit. Compensation may not undo the damage of abuse and neglect, but it can provide the necessary funds to provide for care for your loved one in another facility or at home.
Contact a New Orleans Nursing Home Injuries Attorney
Contact Attorney Fred Olinde of The Olinde Firm to discuss your loved one’s case. Contact our office by calling (504) 587-1440 or 1-800-587-1889 to schedule a free consultation with a New Orleans nursing home injuries attorney.