No one who makes the tough decision to place a family member in the full-time care of an assisted living facility or nursing home wants to imagine that anyone in that facility might mistreat their loved one. Unfortunately, there are thousands of instances of nursing home abuse reported across Florida every year, and likely many more that go unreported and therefore unaddressed.
If you believe a family member is being neglected or abused by people entrusted with their full-time care, it should be a priority to speak with a Winter Garden nursing home abuse lawyer. After helping you ensure your loved one is safe from any further harm, your dedicated personal injury attorney could guide you through the process of establishing legal fault and demanding fair compensation for any losses your family has sustained.
When people think of “nursing home abuse,” they likely think of a staff member physically hitting, pushing, or improperly restraining a resident. As much as that might seem unimaginable to someone with a family member in a nursing home, this kind of mistreatment does happen in facilities around Florida. It is important to understand that nursing home abuse can take various other forms besides physical abuse, many of which can be difficult to recognize.
Emotional and verbal abuse may have psychological effects that do not stick out to even considerate and attentive family members, and sexual abuse may cause injuries and illnesses that might not be visible unless someone knows to look specifically for them. In some cases, abuse in a Winter Garden nursing home can even be financial in nature, and involve a staff member stealing money from a resident or unlawfully altering their estate plan, something that seasoned attorneys have seen all too often.
Ultimately, nobody knows what is normal and abnormal for a nursing home resident better than their close friends and family members, so any sudden change in behavior or mood could be cause for alarm. That is especially true if it mostly happens around a specific staff member. It is also worth looking out for unusual and/or repeated injuries (such as bruises or bedsores), and to ask questions about any injury a resident sustains. While completely innocuous accidents can and do happen inside these facilities, any injury that the staff members seem unable or unwilling to properly explain might be cause for further investigation.
If nursing home abuse of any kind leads directly to a resident suffering physical and/or financial injury, they—or family members acting on their behalf—could seek to hold the perpetrator(s) of the abuse and their employers liable for various ensuing damages, possibly including:
If neglect or abuse in a nursing home leads directly to a resident’s premature death, a nursing home mistreatment lawyer in Winter Garden could help surviving family members seek restitution through a wrongful death claim.
Anyone living under someone else’s care full-time should be able to trust that person to be considerate and care for their needs at all times. Nursing home residents are certainly no exception to this rule in principle, but in practice they are mistreated all too often, which can have a profound effect on their physical, mental, and psychological health.
A Winter Garden nursing home abuse lawyer could help you protect your family and enforce your legal right to financial recovery in a situation such as this. Call us today to learn more.
The Umansky Law Firm Criminal Defense & Injury Attorneys
