Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect
The nursing home abuse attorneys of Zelenitz, Shapiro & D’Agostino offer elder abuse law services to seniors and their family members in Queens and the other boroughs of NYC including Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Staten Island.
What Is an Example of Neglect in a Nursing Home?
An example of nursing home neglect is failing to meet a patient’s medical needs, such as failing to keep up with necessary medical monitoring. For instance, if a nursing home resident has difficulty moving and is bedridden, bedsores can develop if they remain in one position for too long. Bedsores and pressure ulcers can easily be avoided by urging and helping residents to move, or turning those who cannot move on their own. These bedsores, or pressure ulcers are extremely painful and can lead to serious infections like sepsis and ultimately death.
What Is the Most Common Injury in a Nursing Home?
Falls are by far the most common nursing home injury, with roughly 1.5 falls occurring for each nursing home bed annually. 10 to 25 percent of these falls lead to fractures and/or hospital admission, illustrating the serious health impact of these events, which are often avoidable and can be a sign of neglect. After falls, bed sores are the second most common nursing home injuries.
What Are the Signs of Abuse in a Nursing Home?
Remain vigilant and keep an eye out for the following signs of elder abuse in nursing homes:
- A depressed, confused, agitated, and/or withdrawn demeanor
- Isolation from friends, family, and loved ones
- Unexplained injuries, such as bruises or burns
- Being dirty, dehydrated, underweight, overmedicated, or undermedicated
- Changes in spending or banking habits
Nursing Home Injuries
These are some of the most common injuries among nursing home residents, sometimes as a result of abuse or neglect:
Bed Sores
Also known as decubitus ulcers or pressure ulcers, bed sores are wounds that develop as a result of extended pressure on specific areas of the body. These pressure wounds most often occur on parts of the body where bones protrude, such as the heels or the sacrum, and often result from neglect. In the United States, more than 1 in 10 nursing home residents experience a pressure sore at some point during their stay at a nursing home.
“Difficult as it may be to view bedsores on a loved-one, taking pictures or videos of them to document is critically important in order for us to help you achieve justice against a negligent nursing home facility.”
Bed Rail Accidents
While bed safety rails for elderly nursing home residents are standard in order to prevent them from falling off the bed, these railings can be dangerous. Every year, an estimated 4,000 nursing home residents visit the ER for bed rail-related injuries. In addition, bed rails for elderly people have caused over 550 nursing home residents to die since 1995.
Broken Bones
Elderly residents of nursing homes are at high risk of fractures and broken bones due to the high prevalence of osteopenia and osteoporosis, which make bones more brittle, in this population. Broken bones can result from abuse (such as staff members hitting a resident) as well as from neglect.
Burns
Unexplained injuries like burns are often signs of physical abuse or neglect by nursing home staff. Burns can lead to infections and more serious health complications in the elderly.
Falls
As previously stated, falls are the most common nursing home accident, with 1 in 10 to 1 in 4 of these resulting in fractures and/or hospital admission.
Sepsis Infections
Sepsis is a medical emergency that occurs when the body’s extreme response to an infection triggers a chain reaction throughout the body and damages the vital organs. Without immediate intervention, sepsis can lead to death, especially in vulnerable elderly people. The most common infections that lead to sepsis are infections of the lungs, urinary tract, skin, and digestive system.
Wrongful Death
In nursing homes, a wrongful death is one that occurs due to negligence, incompetence, or abuse on the part of the facility or its staff. For instance, if a nursing home resident gets a pressure sore due to neglect and this progresses to fatal sepsis with a lack of medical intervention, this is a clear case of wrongful death because the cause was preventable.
How to Report Nursing Home Abuse in New York City
If you are concerned that a family member or loved one is being abused or neglected in a nursing home, you should report it as soon as possible to protect them from potentially serious medical consequences. Your first course of action should be to call 911 if they are in imminent danger.
In addition, if you are located in New York City and need to submit a complaint about nursing home care, you can do so on the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) website. Alternatively, you can submit a complaint by phone on NYSDOH’s Nursing Home Complaint Hotline at 888-201-4563 during their business hours (Monday through Friday, 8am to 4:45pm).
Nursing Home Abuse Attorney
If you have any suspicions that your family member or loved one could be experiencing abuse in an NYC nursing home, contacting a nursing home abuse law firm like Zelenitz, Shapiro & D’Agostino should be your next step. Our extensive experience with nursing home negligence cases throughout New York City and Long Island has prepared us to support you as you navigate the complex NYC legal system while fighting to protect the rights of vulnerable elders.
To speak with one of our nursing home neglect attorneys, call us at 718-523-1111 or request a free consultation today and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.