Palm Beach Gardens Nursing Home Neglect Lawyer

Nursing home abuse can take place in many forms. There can be intentional actions such as an employer or healthcare provider actually hitting or attacking one of the residents or stealing money from them. More often, it is neglect. This occurs when staff is not paying attention to the residents and the residents can fall down and fracture a hip, can end up with pressure sores, can fail to receive the medication that they need, and can fail to be transferred to a hospital when they need more care than the nursing home can provide. All of these things can lead to serious injury, including death. If you or a loved one have been neglected while staying at a nursing home, you should reach out to a compassionate nursing home abuse attorney that could help. A Palm Beach Gardens nursing home neglect lawyer could devote the time and resources necessary achieve justice for you and your loved one.

Defining Abusive Neglect

Abusive neglect in a nursing home is the failure to provide the necessary care to the resident so that their physical and mental well-being is maintained at the highest level that it practicably or reasonably can be. Any actions taken by the nursing home that, instead of adding to the physical and mental well-being of the resident, actually detract from the physical and mental well-being of the resident are abusive. If an individual has been neglected, they do have the option of working with a Palm Beach Gardens nursing home neglect lawyer in order to hold the neglectful party accountable.

Common Examples of Neglect in Nursing Homes

Common examples of neglect in nursing homes include not feeding, cleaning, or taking care of others. For example, some residents, due to their mental condition, do not know to feed themselves. If, instead of the nursing home taking the time to ensure that those residents are eating, they bring them a tray of food, leave it there, and then come back and take away the full tray of food without paying any attention to the fact that the person has not eaten anything, that can be abusive neglect. It can include leaving people in their own waste. It can include not turning people when they are bed-bound, causing them to develop pressure sores. It can include not giving people the necessary supportive services that they need to prevent them from falling and fracturing hips.

Scenarios That Could Lead to Neglect

Virtually any scenario in a nursing home can lead to neglect. Most of the time, the thing that sets up neglect is the nursing home trying to save money on its caregivers by not having enough people there to meet the needs of the residents.The patients most vulnerable to the consequences of neglect are the residents who are suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s and are not able to communicate what it is that is happening to them. Other vulnerable patients include people who have suffered from significant physical limitations that are bed-bound as well as residents who do not have family and friends that check up on them frequently. Types of harm or injuries that can result from neglect are fractured hips, pressure sores, traumatic and unwanted weight loss, infections, and death. A Palm Beach Gardens nursing home neglect lawyer could work to protect individuals that are vulnerable to neglect and abuse.

Consulting a Palm Beach Gardens Nursing Home Neglect Attorney

If you or a loved one are being neglected in a nursing home, the first priority is getting out of that situation, whether that involves taking you out of the nursing home or complaining to management and getting new caregivers. That is the first step. The second step is calling an experienced Palm Beach Gardens nursing home neglect lawyer who can then talk to you or your loved one about what your rights are. Speak with a qualified attorney that could help you figure out what your next steps should be.