Nursing home abuse is becoming more common in today’s society as more baby-boomers are finding that they need the additional help that nursing homes, assisted living facilities and other long term care facilities provide. Although many forms of nursing home abuse can be prevented when staff act with a modicum of diligence, the nursing home abuse attorney at The Robenalt Law Firm, Inc., has seen that negligence at facilities frequently occurs due to employing inexperienced staff, operating with staff shortages, failing to provide appropriate care to residents and violating health codes and regulations.

Sadly, most elder care facilities in the United States are for-profit corporations that often put those profits before patient care, safety and respect. What’s worse is that many nursing homes patients simply don’t have the necessary faculties to inform their loved ones that they are being abused or neglected due to Alzheimer’s, dementia or other cognitive impairments.

Nursing Home Neglect Causes Most Injuries

Nursing home abuse is often associated with an action such as pushing, shoving or actively treating patients poorly. While any form of nursing home abuse is abhorrent, the truth is that neglect actually causes the most nursing home injuries such as falling, bed sores and malnutrition / dehydration:

• Falling is a common form of injury in nursing homes due to advanced age, weakened faculties and mobility limitations. Although the act of falling can result in broken bones, already weakened bones often break due to osteoporosis and osteopenia and can cause a patient’s fall – resulting in injury. Sadly, many nursing home patients have reported that their fall went undetected for hours because staff neglected to check on them at regular intervals.
• Bed sores. Bed sores, also referred to as pressure sores, pressure ulcers or decubitus ulcers, result from the unrelieved pressure of remaining in the same position for hours or even days. Nursing home patients are supposed to be moved frequently; however, this doesn’t always occur and bed sore injuries are extremely common. They can also be severe. While minor bed sores result in simple irritation that can quickly be relieved, severe bed sores can result in deep wounds which penetrate the skin and muscle and result in serious infection, injury and death.
• Malnutrition / Dehydration. Nursing home patients’ dietary needs are often neglected – especially when their cognitive abilities do not allow them to communicate adequately. A basic lack of food and water can lead to malnutrition and dehydration – both of which can weaken an already compromised immune system and increase the likelihood of serious injury and death.

These are only a few types of nursing home abuse. Others include physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional or psychological abuse and financial or material exploitation.

An Experienced Cleveland Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Who Will Fight for You

If your loved one has been injured due to nursing home abuse, neglect or negligence, call The Robenalt Law Firm, Inc., email trobenalt@robenaltlaw.com, call 216-223-7535, or use our online form. We can help you determine whether your loved one might have legal recourse against a facility, its employees or medical staff and the types of damages for which your family might be entitled. More importantly, your claim may be able to stop the abuse from happening to others.

We represent clients in Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo, Akron throughout Ohio, and elsewhere. In many cases, there is no fee unless we win.