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The decision to place a loved one in a nursing home is one of the most difficult ones that a family can make. Even if you have full trust in a facility, there is still a possibility that your family member will not get the care that they need or will not be treated properly. Nursing home negligence and neglect occur far more often than many people realize, and the consequences can often be dire.
Nursing home negligence occurs when a facility fails to provide the level of care required by law, resulting in harm to a resident. Nursing home neglect is a type of negligence where a nursing home does not meet a resident’s basic needs. If your loved one has been a victim of nursing home negligence or neglect, our New York nursing home abuse lawyers can help you get justice for them.
The Law Offices of Thomas L. Gallivan represent individuals and families who have been harmed by all types of nursing home abuse, negligence, and neglect. We will fight to get you the compensation that you deserve if you have been mistreated at a nursing home. Contact our law firm today to schedule a free initial consultation with a New York nursing home neglect lawyer.
What Is Nursing Home Negligence?
Nursing home negligence happens when a facility or its staff fails to provide the level of care to a resident that is required by law, resulting in harm to that resident. Nursing homes owe residents a duty of care that includes:
- Providing proper medical treatment
- Supervising residents appropriately
- Providing adequate nutrition and hydration
- Ensuring hygiene
- Providing a safe living environment
Negligence can arise from a variety of issues, such as inadequate staffing, poor training, or administrative cost-cutting measures. Other reasons for negligence may include failure to follow care plans and ignoring medical needs. Unsafe conditions, such as loose area rugs that present a fall risk, can also be a form of nursing home negligence.
Falls and Choking Incidents Are Common Types of Nursing Home Negligence
There are many different types of negligence that can occur at a nursing home. One of the most common is failure to prevent falls. Falls are one of the most frequent and dangerous incidents that occur in nursing homes.
While not every fall is preventable, a nursing home may be considered negligent if its staff does not take certain steps to reduce the risk of falls. This includes assessing residents’ fall risk, providing mobility assistance when needed, using bed rails or alarms when appropriate, responding promptly to call lights, and maintaining safe floors and walkways.
Choking incidents are also a common example of nursing home negligence. Nursing home residents often have difficulty chewing and swallowing food, which is often related to the changes in our bodies as we age (such as wearing dentures, decreased saliva production, and degenerative diseases). Strokes and other medical issues can also make the mechanics of chewing and swallowing much more difficult for some nursing home residents.
Nursing homes should always assess each resident to determine their needs as it relates to eating and drinking. They should make sure that residents have the food and beverages that they require. They should also supervise meal and snack times, assisting as necessary. If a resident shows signs of choking, they should intervene promptly to prevent more serious harm.
A failure to take any of these steps can be considered nursing home negligence. When a nursing home doesn’t live up to its duty of care for its residents, such as by monitoring during meals or properly preparing foods, they can be held liable for any injuries that result from their negligence.
Other common types of nursing home negligence include:
- Bedsores develop when bed or chair-bound residents are not repositioned regularly or provided with proper skin care. If the staff fails to turn immobile residents, monitor skin condition, provide proper bedding, or treat early-stage pressure ulcers, it can be a sign of negligence and/or neglect.
- Malnutrition and dehydration occur when a facility fails to provide balanced meals, accommodate dietary needs, assist residents with eating, ensure access to water, and monitor weight loss.
- Medication errors are a common form of nursing home negligence. They can include missed doses, incorrect dosages, wrong medications, improper medication storage, and failure to monitor side effects.
- Poor hygiene can become a problem when staff fail to help residents with bathing, toileting, changing clothes, oral care, and maintaining clean bedding.
- Failure to provide medical care can happen when staff ignore worsening symptoms, delay medical treatment, fail to notify physicians or family members of an issue, or do not follow prescribed care plans.
- Poor infection control can be a sign of nursing home negligence, especially when a facility fails to follow hygiene protocols, clean shared equipment, train staff in infection prevention, or isolate contagious residents.
These and other types of negligence can cause serious harm and even death to vulnerable nursing home residents. If your loved one has been harmed because of nursing home negligence, you may be able to file a lawsuit with the help of a New York nursing home abuse lawyer.
What Is Nursing Home Neglect?
Nursing home neglect is a specific form of negligence. It involves a failure to meet a resident’s basic needs. Nursing home neglect can cause physical harm, pain, mental anguish, or emotional distress.
Neglect is often passive rather than intentional (unlike abuse). However, it can be just as harmful as nursing home abuse. For example, if a nursing home fails to administer medication, it might be due to something like a staff error, rather than a purposeful attempt to hurt someone. However, the end result is the same: a patient may suffer harm because of the missed medication.
Other examples of nursing home neglect may include:
- Lack of hygiene assistance
- Ignoring call lights or requests for help
- Leaving residents unattended for long periods of time
- Failure to provide food or water
- Failure to assist residents with eating or drinking as needed
Nursing home neglect often occurs when facilities are poorly managed or understaffed.
While nursing home neglect might not be a form of intentional abuse, the potential consequences are just as serious. It is also often the product of corporate decisions that ultimately fail residents, like cutting staff to save money. Any type of neglect at a nursing home can cause severe harm.
What Can I Do If My Loved One Was a Victim of Nursing Home Negligence or Neglect?
Nursing homes are subject to both federal and state laws that are designed to protect residents. These laws require facilities to:
- Maintain adequate staffing levels
- Prevent foreseeable injuries (such as falls)
- Provide proper medical and personal care
- Develop and follow individualized care plans
- Protect residents from abuse and neglect
- Maintain clean and safe living conditions
If a nursing home violates these duties, it may be held liable for any harm that results. For example, if a nursing home does not notice a bedsore developing on a resident and get medical care for them, they could be held responsible if the bedsore progresses and results in serious injury.
If a resident of a nursing home is harmed by negligence or neglect, then any responsible party may be held liable for their injuries. This could include the nursing home facility itself, administrators, the corporation that owns the facility, staffing agencies, and medical providers.
To prove a nursing home negligence and/or neglect claim, you will need to introduce evidence of the following:
- The nursing home owed a duty of care to the resident.
- That duty of care was violated in some way.
- This violation caused harm.
- The resident suffered damages (losses) as a result.
Our experienced New York nursing home neglect lawyers will thoroughly investigate the case to develop the strongest possible claim for compensation. To prove liability, we will review medical records, staffing logs, care plans, and inspection reports. We will also talk to witnesses who may be able to provide crucial information about what exactly occurred.
If we can establish that the nursing home violated its duty of care to your loved one, we will pursue a claim against the facility. Through a personal injury lawsuit, you may recover money for all of your losses, including:
- Medical expenses
- Relocation costs
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Reduced quality of life
If your loved one died as a result of nursing home negligence or neglect, you may be able to seek compensation through a wrongful death lawsuit. This type of claim can be brought in situations where a person could have filed a lawsuit for negligence if they had survived. Damages in a wrongful death lawsuit may include funeral and burial expenses, medical bills, financial support that the deceased person would have provided, loss of companionship, the value of parental care and guidance, and conscious pain and suffering.
Of course, no amount of money will make you or your loved one whole again if they are a victim of nursing home negligence and neglect. There are some warning signs that you and your family members can watch for if you have a loved one in a nursing home. Potential red flags include:
- Unexplained injuries
- Bedsores
- Sudden weight loss
- Frequent falls
- Changes in behavior
- Repeated infections
- Poor hygiene or messy appearance
- Missed medication
While you can’t always prevent nursing home negligence, early intervention can often prevent the problem from becoming worse.
If your family member is a victim of nursing home negligence or neglect, there is help. Our law firm will fight to get you the money that you deserve. We can also help to hold the nursing home accountable, so that the same thing doesn’t happen to other people.
Help for Victims of Nursing Home Negligence and Neglect
Nursing home negligence and neglect represent serious breakdowns in the system of care. These incidents can strip vulnerable residents of their health, safety, and dignity. If you suspect that your loved one has been a victim of negligence or neglect at a nursing home, we can help you get compensation for their injuries.
The Law Offices of Thomas L. Gallivan advocates for clients throughout New York who have been hurt in all types of nursing home abuse and neglect cases. We understand the intricacies of these cases and will fight to hold the proper parties accountable for your injuries. We handle all nursing home negligence/neglect cases on a contingency fee basis. To learn more, call our law firm at 914-220-1086 or fill out our online contact form to schedule a free consultation with a New York nursing home neglect attorney.
