Was Your Loved One Abused in a Woodbury Nursing Home?
The population of the United States is aging, and later in life, many people find it hard to take care of themselves on their own as they enter their twilight years. An estimated 1.5 million individuals reside in long-term care facilities in this country, with that number expected to grow in the coming years. Most nursing homes strive to provide quality care for their residents. However, a survey indicated that about 44 percent of residents had suffered some form of abuse while living in a nursing home. This is unacceptable and Sand Law’s goal is to see to it that victims get the compensation they need to get their lives, and form care, back to where it should be.
There are many laws in the state of Minnesota regarding nursing home care, with the goal of keeping the standard of care high. But some staff members, and facilities as a whole, can cause harm to residents and seriously injure them, through negligence or intention.
If you believe a loved one in a nursing home has suffered an injury through the actions of the staff, our experience nursing home abuse lawyers can help.
The Many Types of Nursing Home Abuse
Physical and Emotional Abuse in a Nursing Home
Elderly abuse takes many forms, including physical abuse or emotional abuse. Often, physical abuse and emotional abuse overlap when it comes to those in the care of a facility that they cannot easily leave or escape from. Physical and emotional forms and types of abuse include:
- Cuts or Bruises
- Torn clothing
- Blood on clothes or body
- Fractures or broken bones
- Intimidation
- Yelling or threats
- Humiliation
- Ignoring a patient
- Isolating a patient
- Injuries to the head or sign of a TBI
In the worse case scenario, physical abuse in a nursing home can lead to wrongful death. This is the most aggressions thing that can happen to a loved one in a nursing home and the last reason you expect your older family member to die.
Neglect in a Nursing Home
If your loved one has been neglected in a Woodbury assisted living facility, you may notice:
- Missing or too many of a certain medication
- Dirty cloths
- Dirty bed or sheets
- Unclean room
- Signs of malnourishment
- Signs of dehydration
Sexual Abuse in a Nursing Home
If your loved one is being sexually abused in a nursing home, you may notice:
- Injuries the genitals
- Unusual shyness or wariness to see them nude
- Symptoms of an STD
- Missing or disturbed undergarments
- Your loved one jerking away or flinching when touched
- Frightened by a certain staff member
Financial Exploitation in a Nursing Home
The most common form of abuse in a nursing home is financial exploitation. Some caregivers use their access to take advantage of a seniors they care for. If your loved one is being abused financially, you may notice:
- Missing checks or credit cards
- Missing money
- Unnecessary concern over money or bills
- Missing items of value
- Money transfers that your loved one approved
- New accounts in your loved one’s name
The elderly are very susceptible to getting swindled out of their money especially as their mental faculties diminish and the world we live in increasingly becomes technologically complicated.
Neglectful Abuse in a Nursing Home
Despite the above crimes, most of which are malicious or clearly intentional, a Woodbury nursing home maybe abusing your loved one simply out of neglect, whether intentionally or not. Some types of neglect or reason for neglect include:
- Neglect of an elderly person’s medical needs. This may include missing medicine doses, ignoring injuries, bedsores, failing to notice infections, failing to help with mobility issues, etc.
- Neglect of an elderly person’s basic needs. This may include failing to provide the elderly resident with a enough water or food, not helping them to the toilet often enough, etc.
- Neglect of an elderly person’s hygiene. This may include not helping the resident to shower, bathe, brush their teeth, do their laundry, or leaving them in soiled clothes, etc.
- Neglect of an elderly person’s emotional state. This may include repeatedly ignoring the resident, leaving your loved one alone for longs periods of time, yelling at them or verbally abusing them, punishing them by withholding basic rights, etc.
Spotting the Signs of Abuse
In many cases, the victims of nursing home abuse do not report the abuse, or may be unaware that it is even happening. They may not have the capabilities, either mental or physical, to report the abuse. Others may be too intimidated by their abusers, or rely on them too much for other needs. The abusers themselves may threaten additional harm to the resident to keep them from reporting the injuries they have sustained.
For these reasons, family members should always be sure to keep a close eye on their loved ones who live in nursing homes. If you know what to look for, you may be able to spot signs of abuse that the resident is too scared to report, or doesn’t recognize at all.
Common Signs of Abuse to Look For
- Wounds of any kind that are unexplained, or that the resident seems reluctant to talk about, from cuts and bruises to broken or fractured bones
- Similarly unexplained strains or sprains
- Dirty and/or soiled clothes and bedding
- A sexually transmitted disease diagnosis
- Signs of malnutrition
- Medical issues that go unresolved for long periods of time
- Medications going missing
- Personality changes in your loved one, especially a development of a fear of physical contact
If you suspect anything at all is out of the ordinary, inquire with the facility as much as possible to determine if something is happening to your family member.
Experienced Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers in Woodbury
As a final step, if you believe you have a case to make for negligence or intentional harm from staff at a nursing home that has affected your loved one living there, don’t hesitate to contact our experienced lawyers at Sand Law LLC. We can be reached online through our contact form, or at 651-291-7263. Our experienced team will help you take your case to court and get you the compensation to which you are entitled.