It is your responsibility to trust the nursing home and its employees to look out for your senior loved one while they are in their care. Since its inhabitants are among the most vulnerable groups, most nursing facilities handle their business with honesty and respect. However, there are unfortunately situations in which this is not the case. The staff members of a nursing home who violate your trust and neglect your loved one due to negligence, malicious behavior, or plain indifference should be held responsible. If your loved one is facing such an issue, contact the Quinn Law Group, LLC.
Why is it necessary to select an appropriate nursing home for your elderly parents?
It is essential for you to understand the early indications of abuse and neglect in nursing homes and how to report these behaviors if your loved one receives care inside. Find out more about reporting nursing home neglect, what to look out for at a nursing home, and how a nursing home abuse lawyer might help in ensuring that the unthinkable occurs.
Signs of Abuse and Neglect in Nursing Homes
The best defense against abuse for your senior loved ones is knowing the warning signs of neglect. Among the things to watch out for are:
- Bad personal hygiene
- Unclean rooms
- Dirty sheets
- Unhygienic Living areas
- Skin lesions
- Signs of malnutrition
How to Report Abuse in a Nursing Home
The Adult Protective Services, or APS, part of the state is in the position of handling negligence in nursing homes. This state government office has been created to look into any claims of abuse, neglect, or exploitation involving adults who are at least eighteen years old or who have been awarded emancipation.
Every allegation of abuse, neglect, or exploitation—whether at home or in a facility—must be investigated by APS, which is also in the position of providing resources and assistance when the investigation is over. Making contact with APS is your first duty when investigating mistreatment in a nursing home.
What will happen next?
The report will be examined and an investigation will be carried out by APS after it is submitted. APS may collaborate with law enforcement, the county attorney, medical judges, or a representative of the concerned facility throughout the investigation.
This inquiry is required and cannot be refused. However, you are free to decline any services that are afterwards offered. These services come in a wide range and are chosen by several variables that change according to the situation.
What can you do?
1. Think about the Cost of Living
As with everything in life, earnings do have an effect on the senior housing complex someone can move into. For the first 20 days of a patient’s stay in a nursing home, Medicare pays all eligible costs if the individual just needs temporary support while they recover from a hospital stay.
2. Funding a Stay in a Long-Term Care Facility
Most nursing homes that take Medicaid also take in residents who pay out of pocket. Keeping your loved one near to home might sometimes be accomplished best by paying out of pocket.
What rights do you have?
Anyone who reports anything in good faith is protected from legal action by the law, both criminal and civil. In addition, it is illegal for nursing homes as well as other residential facilities to discriminate against or fire an individual who files such a report.
Nonetheless, it is essential to understand the limits of privileged communication. Speaking with your spouse about the issue to mandated reporters is not confidential, and the mandated reporter is required by law to provide the report. The conversations between the customer and their attorney are the only ones that are protected.
Speak with an attorney if a loved one has been mistreated in a nursing home.
Unfortunately, there continue to be nursing homes out there that fail to stick to the moral and ethical standards that regulate them. In such cases, the staff at the facility may abuse the residents. Get in touch with a reputable nursing home abuse lawyer if you believe your loved one is being mistreated at a nursing home.
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