If you have a relative who is an elder or senior citizen in a nursing home, you expect them to experience only the best care. Discovering that they experience any form of abuse that results in injuries may come as a shock, but it can be quite common in neglectful nursing homes.
This article discusses common injuries that your relative may experience when living in a neglectful nursing home.
Medication Errors
Medication errors in nursing home settings are usually drug-related errors. These errors may involve nursing home staff mistakenly giving a patient the wrong medication due to preventable negligence. Perhaps the nursing home facility provided inadequate training, resulting in incompetent practice.
Understaffed nursing homes may be at greater risk of medication errors. Attending to more patients than a medical staff member can handle affects attention to detail, which may lead to preventable mistakes.
Common medication errors lie in miscommunication. Patient treatments involve short phone calls between nursing home staff and doctors, requiring thorough attention to ensure the patient has the right file.
When a nursing home has given a patient the wrong dose or prescription drug, the patient may get seriously injured. It’s a good idea to seek legal counsel and consider your options to compensate for damages.
Bedsores
Nursing home patients may suffer from bedsores due to nursing home staff negligence. Nursing home staff members who fail to practice routine precautionary measures for your bedridden relative could leave them susceptible to this. Staff members must keep a patient dry and clean to prevent bedsores.
Untreated bedsores may develop into secondary debilitating conditions. Your relative may suffer pain, tissue damage, and infections. These conditions can further complicate and develop into gangrene or sepsis, which may require amputation or result in wrongful death. These cases are preventable, making nursing homes liable for negligence that resulted in your relative’s discomfort in their facilities.
Falls and Fractures
Between 50% and 75% of nursing home residents fall each year. Falls among senior citizens risk irreparable fractures or head injuries that often result in death. Elders who fall in nursing homes tend to suffer from existing health conditions, most commonly muscle weakness, which accounts for 24% of falls.
However, environmental hazards also account for up to 27% of falls in nursing facilities. Environmental hazards include faulty or inadequate safety transfer devices. Patients may fall from safety handling devices because of inadequate training among staff members. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) agrees that safe patient handling is an ideal fall prevention measure.
Nursing home abuse is a common issue that the elderly face when living in neglectful nursing home facilities. You want to rest assured that your loved one is living comfortably in a care facility. If your loved one suffers from an injury while living in a nursing home, you are entitled to seek legal counsel to assess the situation.
Stop the Abuse, Call Us Now
As we age, we often need assistance with basic tasks and medical care. We trust nursing homes to provide our elderly loved ones with the support and care they need. However, nursing home abuse can and does happen. It’s devastating to realize your loved one has been mistreated or neglected in any way. At Gallon, Takacs, & Boissoneault, we understand the importance of ensuring nursing homes provide the necessary care to our elderly loved ones. Our seasoned nursing home abuse lawyers are here to review cases in Toledo, Ohio, and provide guidance. You don’t have to accept any mistreatment and neglect towards your loved ones. Contact our local personal injury lawyers today for a free consultation. We’ll work to ensure your loved ones receive the care and support they deserve. With a local personal injury attorney near you, help is just a phone call away.
Call us at 419-843-6663 to get started, or use our easy online contact form today.
A free consultation with one of our nursing home abuse attorneys at Gallon, Takacs & Boissoneault can provide peace of mind. We offer guidance on legal options, case evaluations, and potential compensation. Our free consultations ensure legal assistance without financial cost. Personal Injury cases are taken on a contingency fee basis. No fees unless we recover compensation for you.
Jonathan Ashton, Partner and Personal Injury Attorney, began his law career at GT&B in 2007 as a law clerk. He was hired as an associate immediately after passing the Ohio Bar in 2008. Jonathan practices in Personal Injury, representing clients who have been injured and need justice and compensation for them to move forward in their lives.
