Maryland Nursing Home Abuse Attorneys

What Are Some Signs of Nursing Home Malpractice?

Other instances and potential signs of nursing home malpractice include:

• A change in your loved one’s behavior and noticeable fearfulness
• Broken bones
• Lack of everyday necessities, such as food and water
• One resident injuring another resident while under staff supervision
• Over-medicating
• Sexual assault
• Unexplained bruising or cuts
• Unnecessary restraint
• Unsanitary conditions

The elderly are a vulnerable part of society and deserve to live with respect and dignity. If staff members of a nursing home, including administrators, physicians, nurses, and other medical professionals, ignore their responsibility to the elderly placed in their care and your loved one suffers injury, humiliation, or sustains a fatal injury, you deserve to hold negligent parties accountable.

What Are Some Potential Dangers in Nursing Homes?

Bed Injuries

Deaths from bed injuries are more common than you’d think. There are many factors that attribute to bed injuries and deaths. The space between the slats on side rails has been known to trap an elderly person’s head causing strangulation. Some beds have mattresses that do not properly fit the bed frame leaving a gap that can also trap someone. Suffocation and strangulation may not always get reported because of the age of the victims.

Falls

With age comes loss of strength and balance. This puts even more pressure on the nursing home to provide safe walking conditions for their residents. Nursing homes must provide safety services and devices to lower the potential for injuries. These facilities are required to know the medical conditions of their residents and how best to keep them safe from injury. Falling at an older age can cause multiple bone breaks or even death.

Severe Neglect

Elderly in nursing homes may require special treatment to keep them healthy. Failure to provide that care may amount to what is known as “neglect.” Pressure ulcers, such as bedsores, may be a result of neglect. Malnutrition may also be a sign that the home is not properly feeding your loved one. Are there new issues with swallowing, depression, loss of weight, tremors, tooth loss, or adverse drug reactions? The home must notice and treat these issues. Is the home providing adequate attention and care? Telltale signs of neglect include a paleness of the mouth or lips, dentures no longer fitting, clothes fitting more loosely, sunken eyes, skin irritations, and wounds taking longer to heal. Neglect often occurs because nursing homes deliberately understaff their facilities in order to maximize profits.

Nursing home malpractice is a serious issue that affects not only the elderly victim, but also their family. When a family places their trust in a nursing home facility only to find out that their trust was unwarranted, the family can feel immense guilt over what their loved one suffered. However, there are legal options when it comes to taking the next step and helping your elderly loved one heal from the abuse or neglect they suffered. Your loved one and your family may be entitled to compensation for the losses that were suffered because of the nursing home’s neglect or abuse, including coverage for medical bills, pain and suffering, finding a new nursing home, and other damages.

Potential Litigation

The compassionate Maryland nursing home abuse attorneys of Alpert Schreyer Injury Accident Lawyers know what it takes to hold negligent and abusive parties accountable for their actions. With a vast arsenal of legal resources, our experienced and dedicated lawyers will help you understand your legal rights and help you decide which options are the best for you and your family. Nobody should suffer harm, particularly by medical practitioners and staff who were hired specifically to provide the best care possible to the elderly.