Take notice. Nursing home neglect is widespread. Unfortunately, as most people grow older, they become more susceptible to negligence and unnecessarily become victims of abuse. Thousands of elderly men and women move into facilities to be cared for by others when they can no longer take care of themselves. Surprisingly, a large number of residents are not being given the care and attention they deserve.
Definition of Nursing Home Neglect:
Whenever the owner or person responsible for taking care of his resident fails to fulfill his obligation, neglect has just occurred. One might say a person has been neglected when the staff of a home is not able to provide the resident with everyday necessities such as water, food, or professional care.
Needless to say, the resident can be afflicted with health problems or injuries as a result of negligence. Various conditions might indicate a resident has been subjected to neglect or abuse. Some signs include cuts, bruising, dehydration, bed sores, symptoms of malnutrition, untreated wounds, behavioral swings, and general unsanitary environments.
Finding a Top Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer:
Whenever you suspect a loved one has suffered from neglect or any form of abuse, it is advisable to call your local police right away and file a formal complaint. After you file a negligence report with the police, the next best thing to do is consult with an experienced nursing home abuse attorney that can handle that type of case in your State.
A top nursing home abuse lawyer will be able to advise you of your legal recourse and represent your loved one if negligence or abuse is apparent. Should your lawyer recommend a lawsuit, the owner and its staff may be convicted of neglect and be held liable for restitution.
Many of us that choose to place our loved one into a facility naturally assume that the nursimanagement and nursing home workers have the residents' well being in mind. After all, nursing homes are supposed to provide professional care for those that can't care for themselves, right? As much as we hope Aunt Agnes will be properly cared for, too often we are let down and in some cases our worst fears are realized. Loved ones are being subjected to abuse and neglect, and it's happening everywhere.
Staff members have been caught in the act of inflicting verbal abuse on elderly home residents. Physical abuse and emotional abuse is just as widespread in American nursing homes today. Any form of abuse is inexcusable because it produces harmful effects to the resident as well as family members of the victim.
There are many signs that could show if your loved one is a victim of physical or emotional abuse at a nursing home: bumps or bruises on the body, cuts and scrapes, lacerations, burns, broken bones, changes in behavior, and mood swings.
If you observe things such as bed sores, poor hygiene and unclean conditions in the nursing home, be aware that these could be additional signs of neglect.
Nursing homes are ordered by the federal and state governments to meet specific requirements regarding the care they provide. This includes making sure an adequate number of professional employees are on hand to care for residents of the home. Unfortunately, many homes will jeopardize the welfare of their elderly residents by not maintaining enough employees to provide care.
There are abuse attorneys who can offer legal solutions if you or a loved one has experienced abuse or neglect. It is imperative that you speak with an experienced nursing home lawyer if you have questions concerning what can be done with your abuse claim. You or your loved one may be entitled to compensation for your damages or suffering.
My experience confirms that very many patients are suffering from PTSD (posttraumatic stress disorder) as a direct result of childhood maltreatment. But they do not know what their real problem is.
Psychologists and psychiatrists know what to expect in the way of symptoms with war veterans: PTSD. We know as fact that the experiences of war can produce in even the strongest individual the constellation of symptoms that therapists should recognize as trauma. But for some reason, we have only begun to make this same connection with people whose lives have been a "war."
One woman, who spent nearly 20 years in therapy, first with an educational counselor, then three psychiatrists, plus a family therapist, found herself with suicidal feelings right up to the time she entered our group for domestic abuse.
One psychiatrist, an analyst, spent two years asking her, "What do you think?" Another psychiatrist gave her open prescriptions for highly addictive drugs, and the third psychiatrist wanted to use electroconvulsive therapy, probably the worst possible treatment for trauma survivors. The family therapist ordered her to draw a family geneology chart.
None of the above professionals seemed determined to find the cause of her suffering; they just had their favorite ways of treating symptoms.
Her real problem had been nightly incest at the hands of her biological father, the rejection by her mother as a result, and constant debasing comments by both parents and both sisters all of her life. Not even her head-banging, a dead giveaway for sexual abuse, was noticed.
Another woman was in treatment for thirty years for depression and a "borderline personality disorder," ten of these years with the same psychiatrist. When the decade had passed, he remarked, "I really don't think I can help you."
Never was her sadistically violent tormentor, her husband, ever seen or even asked about. She in no way had a borderline personality disorder, but she was indeed suffering from PTSD as a result of life-long abuse.
None of her therapists had been interested in causality. A disinterest in root cause is, in my opinion, the greatest weakness in the mental-health professions.
We have clung so closely to the medical model that emotional disturbances of most any kind have historically been seen as free-standing, as though they had arisen from an infection, from a vacuum, or from nowhere.
How this mentality has survived is a mystery, when in any other science the principle of cause and effect rules.
Put another way, for every action there is a reaction. Molest, torture, humiliate, or neglect a child severely enough, and PTSD or similar symptoms will be the reaction. For this reason, the treatment of domestic abuse is the treatment of child abuse, and both are the treatment of trauma.
Heyward Ewart has sinced written about articles on various topics from Legal Matters, Anger Control and Kids and Teens. Dr. Ewart is a retired psychologist with over 20 years of experience treating child abuse and rape victims. He has spoken widely on these issues and has served as an expert witness in several states. He is a diplomate of the American College of Forensic E. Heyward Ewart's top article generates over 1000 views. to your Favourites.