Sarasota Nursing Home Abuse Attorney
Families should not have to worry about the safety of elderly loved ones in nursing homes in Southwest Florida, yet nursing home abuse is a serious problem in the state and across the country. While certain information about nursing home ratings can provide adult children with information about a facility’s past violations when they are shopping around for a parent’s care, it is important to remember that nursing home abuse can happen anywhere, even if a facility has no history of abuse or safety violations. You should contact a Sarasota nursing home abuse attorney with any concerns or questions.
What is Nursing Home Abuse in Sarasota?
There are many different types of nursing home abuse, so it can be difficult to provide a single definition. In general, nursing home abuse can be defined as any act or omission that results in an injury to a resident of a nursing home. Nursing home abuse can be physical, psychological, or sexual in nature, and sometimes it can involve willful or passive neglect. Anyone who has concerns about an elderly loved one’s safety in a nursing home should learn more about the common signs and symptoms of abuse.
Common Types of Sarasota Nursing Home Abuse
Nursing home abuse takes many different forms, and accordingly, it can have a wide variety of signs and symptoms. In order to recognize possible indications of abuse affecting your elderly loved one, it is important to learn more about common types of nursing home abuse and the signs that frequently accompany those forms of abuse. Consider the following types of abuse and signs discussed by the National Council on Aging (NCOA):
- Physical abuse can involve any actions intended to physically harm or restrain a nursing home resident, and signs may include bruises, welts, broken bones, cuts, or any other type of unexplained injuries;
- Psychological abuse (or emotional abuse) can involve any actions designed to scare, embarrass, humiliate, or emotionally affect a nursing home resident, and common signs include a senior’s loss of interest in regular activities, despondency, fear or concern about a particular staff member, unexplained anxiety or depression, and unexplained weight loss;
- Sexual abuse, which can involve any unwanted sexual touching, and signs can include genital bleeding or pain, unexplained sexually transmitted infections, and bloodied or torn clothing;
- Willful deprivation, which is the intentional withholding of necessities from a senior such as nourishment or medical devices, and signs can include dehydration, malnutrition, unexplained weight loss, lack of hygiene, and missing medical devices; and
- Passive neglect, where a facility or staff member does not intend to cause harm to the patient, but fails to provide essential care and the patient suffers harm, which can result in signs like broken bones, lack of hygiene, bed sores, UTIs, infections, unexplained injuries, and weight loss.
Contact Kohn Law Today
At Kohn Law, our firm is committed to assisting plaintiffs with nursing home abuse lawsuits. We know how devastating nursing home abuse can be, and we want to ensure that facilities are held accountable for any harm they cause. Contact our experienced Sarasota nursing home abuse attorney today for assistance with your claim.
