What is considered nursing home neglect?

Nursing home neglect is the failure by a nursing home or assisted living facility to meet their client’s basic needs, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These needs include food, water, shelter, clothing, hygiene, and essential medical care—essentially anything that the patient cannot provide for themselves.

Tragically, nursing home neglect and other forms of elder abuse are more common than anyone would like to think. If you or a loved one has suffered nursing home abuse, or you suspect their care home of neglecting their needs, call the nursing home neglect and abuse lawyers at Gordon McKernan Injury Attorneys toll-free at 888.501.7888.

What Is Nursing Home Neglect?

Neglect can cause lasting issues with the patient’s physical, mental, and emotional health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), elder abuse and neglect can cause serious illnesses, injuries, and even wrongful death.

Physical Negligence

Failing to provide proper nutrition or hydration, or failing to help elderly patients perform the basic tasks of their lives, are examples of physical nursing home negligence.

Elderly residents of nursing homes can need help with even the most basic of tasks, such as eating, taking their medications, and answering the call of nature. When nursing home staff fail to help residents with these tasks, they can result in injuries, illness, or death.

If you’ve placed your loved one in a nursing home, it’s because you’re unable to care for them. You trust that the staff of your loved one’s home will assist them live gracefully in their twilight years. A nursing home that breaks that trust is negligent and should be held to account.

Emotional Negligence

Emotional negligence—failing to allow visits with friends or family, isolation, or verbal abuse—can be just as dangerous as physical negligence for nursing home patients. Many residents suffer from dementia or other neurological diseases that are only exacerbated by loneliness.

Look out for the Warning Signs of Nursing Home Neglect

The next time you visit your loved one in an assisted living center or nursing home, be on the lookout for the following signs that could be indicators of neglect:

• Dehydration
• Malnutrition
• Weight changes
• Unexplained infections or bedsores
• Sudden personality or behavioral changes, such as depression, anxiety, anger, self-harm, or withdrawal
• Medical complications

If you suspect your loved one is being neglected, contact the management of their nursing home and call Gordon McKernan Injury Attorneys at 888.501.7888 for a free consultation. We’ll help you recover the damages your loved one needs to heal.